Poundland is a British variety store chain founded in 1990, selling most items at the single price of £1, including clearance items and proprietary brands. The first pilot store opened in December 1990 following numerous rejections by landlords who had reservations about allowing a single-price store to operate, fearing it could adversely affect the local competition. An estimated 7 million customers shopped in Poundland every week in 2016, many being female shoppers in the C1, C2, D and E categories (the working classes in a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom). Following a drop in share price of over 50%, Poundland was acquired in August 2016 by Steinhoff International for £610m.