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A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

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Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#41

Post by thaumasiotes »

Lazare wrote: post #27
pascalxus wrote: post #3

You really have to differentiate between the food that's offered at a dollar store and everything else. I shop at the dollar store for things like shampoo, deodrant, toothpaste and it's superb deal, not in any way making me poorer. on the contrary it saves me money. for groceries, you should shop somewhere else, unless your looking for dog food. the reason there aren't more grocery stores selling good food is because…

Yep. Minneapolis recently experimented with requiring all stores selling food in the city to stock some "fresh/healthy" foods. It's been a disaster; it turns out that the reason these products weren't being stocked is because people don't want to buy them. Force stores to devote some of their limited shelf space to expensive, perishable items, and people still won't buy them, but now the prices on all other items has…

> These sorts of policies hurt the poor, and to a lesser extent, small businesses, while helping no one.

Public choice theory tells us that they help politicians who would like to campaign on the back of "I signed a bill ensuring access to healthy food for poor people".

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#42

Post by nate_meurer »

I normally like CityLab, but the tone of this article really grates on me. Calling dollar stores parasites? The article casually notes that without these stores many poor or minority communities would be true retail deserts, but it offers no workable alternatives. Only invective.

Every Dollar General I've ever been in has dairy, eggs, a competent selection of canned and dry goods (pasta, beans, etc), baking goods, and a good (if basic) selection of fresh fruits and vegetables.

It's not the dollar store's fault if the surrounding community insists on frozen pizzas and soda.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#43

Post by rspeer »

pascalxus wrote: post #35
scythe wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love oatmeal and eat loads of it, but we really need to avoid telling poorly-informed people that the path to cheap nutrition is to eat bland goo. You might think about it as a rhetorical example, but you need to remember that people won't remember what you say, only how you make them feel. The salient imagery in your post is living on unflavored oatmeal, and that's not appealing to anyone.

that's a good point. I didn't realize people thought of oatmeal like that. I really enjoy oatmeal. I put some bananas on it or some pumpkin seeds, or strawberries or a little bit of honey and the whole thing tastes absolutely delicious.

This cheap food tastes really great when you put expensive food on top of it!

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#44

Post by m_mueller »

matchbok wrote: post #6
pascalxus wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

meat is carcinogenic. as for fruits and vegetables, i'm hoping that someday the local food production revolution will start picking up steam and help make these more cost effective, perhaps with some automation or vertical farming. for now, focus on things you can get for less than 1$/lb like bananas, apples, bell peppers, onions, cauliflower/broccoli (when it's on sale). Cabbage 50c/lb even here in CA.

meat is not carcinogenic

I think OP is referring to carcinogenic effects linked to red meat - in some ways it‘s healthier because its iron is the easiest to absorb, in some ways it‘s not by giving you 20% or so higher risk of intestinal cancer if you consume more than a certain amount - don’t remember the details. My stance is, duh, everything at the right dose (like 30-50g per day on average would be my bet for red meat and red fish). Plenty of animal protein sources are AFAIK not linked to adverse effects as long as you‘re not overstressing your kidneys, i.e. eggs, white meat/fish, cheese.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#45

Post by rosser »

matchbok wrote: post #6
pascalxus wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

meat is carcinogenic. as for fruits and vegetables, i'm hoping that someday the local food production revolution will start picking up steam and help make these more cost effective, perhaps with some automation or vertical farming. for now, focus on things you can get for less than 1$/lb like bananas, apples, bell peppers, onions, cauliflower/broccoli (when it's on sale). Cabbage 50c/lb even here in CA.

meat is not carcinogenic

There is some evidence suggesting an association between red meat consumption and colorectal cancers. I don't think the link is well-enough understood to suggest it's a causal one, but I also don't think it's any longer supported to flatly dismiss any possible links out of hand like that.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#46

Post by brianwawok »

scythe wrote: post #28
pascalxus wrote: post #3

You really have to differentiate between the food that's offered at a dollar store and everything else. I shop at the dollar store for things like shampoo, deodrant, toothpaste and it's superb deal, not in any way making me poorer. on the contrary it saves me money. for groceries, you should shop somewhere else, unless your looking for dog food. the reason there aren't more grocery stores selling good food is because…

I love oatmeal and eat loads of it, but we really need to avoid telling poorly-informed people that the path to cheap nutrition is to eat bland goo. You might think about it as a rhetorical example, but you need to remember that people won't remember what you say, only how you make them feel. The salient imagery in your post is living on unflavored oatmeal, and that's not appealing to anyone.

Oatmeal is not bland goo. It’s the black hoodie of breakfast. Gets the job done for a decent price to let you focus on stuff that matters.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#47

Post by hajile »

drb91 wrote: post #13
anilshanbhag wrote: post #10

It's fairly obvious that grocery stores would not want to be in poor neighborhoods. This article paints it all as segregation / race issue which is inaccurate where it is really an issue of purchasing power of the community. While many poor neighborhoods are communities of color - dollar stores have their origin and largest footprint in rural America which is predominantly white.

> It's fairly obvious that grocery stores would not want to be in poor neighborhoods. Why not, for us clueless people?

Why are products more expensive in poor neighborhoods? If there were real profits to be reaped, certainly stores would be moving in and enjoying high profit margins rather than leaving.

The answer should lie elsewhere and it does. Cost of doing business in those neighborhoods is very high. Vandalism and robbery jack up insurance rates. Companies don't want to deliver there because they don't want the risk, so they charge more. Shoplifting expenses must be spread across all product actually sold. If the place offers loans, they must deal with very high rates of defaults. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip. If someone doesn't pay for that car, you have to repo it, but there's a decent chance it can't be found or that you now own an unsellable car or that it was messed up, but there's no way of actually getting any money out of the responsible parties.

Finally, let's say I put a store in a nicer part of town only 15 minutes away. I get less vandalism and basically zero robbery. I get less shoplifting and lower insurance rates. I can keep the same profit margins as the guy in the poor neighborhood and still offer significantly lower prices. Because it's reasonably close to the poor neighborhood, I even get their business without all the extra risk. In the loan market, less risky clients means I can charge less interest and still make the same amount of money and have far less overhead tracking down people and things.

The real tragedy here is police. Poor neighborhoods and police don't get along. Police view everyone suspiciously (why wouldn't they when most dead and injured police show up in those same neighborhoods?). Likewise, the people living there don't trust the police because the police treat them as criminals (and like it or not, someone somewhere is always going to make a mistake that starts this downward spiral). This isn't even a race issue. Police and the poor have had this relationship going back as far as you can search no matter the race (or races) involved.

This problem could be fixed with education, but the average criminal and average police officer both have below average IQs (with it being ruled in the US that it is perfectly legal to reject police officers who have an IQ that is "too high"). If everyone in a poor neighborhood were properly educated, it would cease to be a poor neighborhood in a very short amount of time, but our education system is only interested in lip service (another problem in itself).

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#48

Post by nate_meurer »

kijin wrote: post #36
DocFeind wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spent a few years in Texas and often travel by road cross country. I do have to say, finding a dollar store chain of local is a blessing in the big empty in-between.

Dollar stores are like fast food franchises. They're cheap and probably unhealthy, but their inventory is highly predictable.

Good point, reliability is key. Selection is narrow, limited by space, but they have a little of everything.

Healthy food is easy to find at these stores. I can put together a perfectly good home cooked meal from Dollar General no problem. Baking goods, dry goods, dairy, produce... again the selection is smaller than a larger grocer, but it's all there.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#49

Post by likeclockwork »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #39
war1025 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in rural Iowa, Dollar General also has claimed the niche of "less stuff, but also nearby". You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar General for most of your basic needs, or you can drive a half hour to the nearest city with a Walmart / Target / etc. I really quite like stopping by to grab a quick thing or two. Around here, there tends to be a local grocery chain in the same vicinity, so gene…

> You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar General for most of your basic needs, or you can drive a half hour to the nearest city with a Walmart / Target / etc. I'm intrigued by these time estimates. Living in a suburb of Santa Cruz (just south of the Bay Area), the choices are similar. Completely inadequate corner store (much worse than DG) locally, or drive to a location with real stores. That…

The Iowans probably drive everywhere at 80mph.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#50

Post by [deleted] »

brad0 wrote: post #22
war1025 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in rural Iowa, Dollar General also has claimed the niche of "less stuff, but also nearby". You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar General for most of your basic needs, or you can drive a half hour to the nearest city with a Walmart / Target / etc. I really quite like stopping by to grab a quick thing or two. Around here, there tends to be a local grocery chain in the same vicinity, so gene…

I’m curious, what do you do for work in Iowa?

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