Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The economics of dollar stores

thehustle.co

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 226 posts

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#121

Post by InvaderFizz »

middus wrote: post #16
busymom0 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The food there make me sad, though. It’s almost exclusively crap. It depends upon what type of food you are looking for. If you are looking for branded things like pop, chips, chocolates/candy etc, then they are very good deal.

I think that's what was meant with crap

I would have assumed the crap they meant the sad looking meats and cheeses in the refrigerators.

Dollar Stores are hit and miss. I needed some emergency earbuds for a trip. Wow, I didn't know you could manufacture earbuds that sounded that bad, even at the $1 price point. I am by no means an audiophile either.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#122

Post by rrrrrrrrrrrryan »

b3morales wrote: post #118
bradleyjg wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paperback books that don’t sell are discarded so as not to compete with long tail purchases but hard cover books are expensive enough in terms of production and distribution that the end up getting discounted instead.

Can you expand on this? Do you mean a paperback copy of a book somehow competes with a later sale of the same book?

Yes - they don't want to flood the used book market with paperbacks, which would compete with future sales of the same title.

If you're a bookstore and a hardcover doesn't sell, you have to return the whole book to the publisher. If a paperback doesn't sell, you just have to rip off the front cover and return that to the publisher.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripped_book

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#123

Post by grogenaut »

alkonaut wrote: post #34
mnahkies wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this point is underappreciated. Sometimes it definitely makes sense to pay more per unit/kg for some item for a smaller quantity if otherwise you'd be throwing out an excess

At some point I bought a sampler set of miniature colognes from one of the big makers (CK I think). Probably 5 x 5ml or something. Dirt cheap, and perfect for traveling. Turns out 5ml of cologne is enough for years and years if you use it rarely and sparingly (as you should). The huge 50 or 75ml perfume bottles must be one of the products most often thrown out without finishing. I bet CK thought these sampler sets wo…

the ones i got as gifts always evaporated before i used them all.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#124

Post by [deleted] »

middus wrote: post #16
busymom0 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The food there make me sad, though. It’s almost exclusively crap. It depends upon what type of food you are looking for. If you are looking for branded things like pop, chips, chocolates/candy etc, then they are very good deal.

I think that's what was meant with crap

[deleted]

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#125

Post by eigen »

mkr-hn wrote: post #71
mnahkies wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never paid more than about 3.5k USD for a car. Not sure what the second hand market is like in America but in NZ and UK you can get great cars for a fraction of the cost of buying new. In terms of maintenance, I've had some that were troublesome, and some that needed nothing, it's a bit of a lottery in that regard. Most common problems are solvable with a few hours on your back in the garage though. Possibly mos…

The Cash for Clunkers program destroyed the used car market in the US. It's slowly recovering as cars from the 2000s and 2010s enter it.

the CARS program ran for 1 month in 2009. so it didnt affect 2009 and later model years. it appears to have increased new car sales in 2009 so it should positively affect the used car market in later years as those new cars moved to the used car market.

please explain how the used car market is "slowly recovering" 11 years later.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#126

Post by notsureaboutpg »

jessedrain wrote: post #99

I think the article oversighted that even dollar general has loss leader products. When I was a poor student, I remember practically living on $2 worth of 5-10 bananas and a gallon of milk everyday, it was the cheapest in my town and I looked. You can be poor and still have a fair, unexploitative shopping experience at those stores.

Well, you can only have that experience because someone else is having an unfair, exploitative experience at the same store...

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#127

Post by IncRnd »

busymom0 wrote: post #14
dopidopHN wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your whole country is exotic to me, and I formed my opinion on things as a old adult. For me dollars store are the reliable place to buy toxic stuff, cleaning supplies and in general non-food item. I like that it’s small and to the point. The food there make me sad, though. It’s almost exclusively crap.

> The food there make me sad, though. It’s almost exclusively crap. It depends upon what type of food you are looking for. If you are looking for branded things like pop, chips, chocolates/candy etc, then they are very good deal.

That's a list of crap food, which might be what was meant. However, if you compare the ingredient list for a seemingly identical item, the ingredients (contents or quantity) will many times differ between a dollar store and elsewhere.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#128

Post by adventured »

Noos wrote: post #81

The article sort of conflates two different models. Dollar Tree is actual "everything in the store is a dollar" while Dollar General and Family General are mostly small retail stores that sell things at a variety of prices. They round prices to the dollar, but otherwise are traditional retail that just locates in unusual locations. Five Below is another "dollar store" in that blend, focusing mostly on goods for young…

> It isn't too new of a niche

Definitely an old retail segment. Walmart's origins derive from Sam Walton operating a Ben Franklin five-and-dime variety store (a wholesaler dating to the 19th century), which was that era's equivalent of a Dollar General store (including having spread itself to 2500 locations all over the place). With him later opening Walton's five-and-dime store.

Interesting representative story on the recent conclusion to that chain:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/10/20/ben-franklin

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#129

Post by Robotbeat »

echelon wrote: post #119
b3morales wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you expand on this? Do you mean a paperback copy of a book somehow competes with a later sale of the same book?

Supply and demand. If you decrease the supply, the small existing demand will pay more.

When suppliers destroy supply, it makes a good argument for piracy

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#130

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

Clewza313 wrote: post #32

100 yen (approx $1) have long been huge in Japan too, and their business model is even simpler: most of what they sell is plastic and made to order in China in huge volumes. They have grocery selections too, but nothing that would require refrigeration or otherwise spoil quickly. And while hardly luxury, they're also not down-market in the way that Dollar X's in the US are, many are located in central business distri…

These dollar stores are located in many business districts. Definitely not right on a main street, but within a nearby vicinity (like 1-3 miles). At least they are in my state. Dollar stores are never farther away than 10 miles max.
Post reply on HN