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Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

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Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#101

Post by zhdc1 »

ergot_vacation wrote: post #42
seibelj wrote: post #7

The gut-reaction is that this is some horrible thing rather than a scalable business model that provides low-cost goods to customers in rural areas that were previously underserved. My family in rural Oklahoma and Texas have to drive over an hour to Wal Mart, the dollar stores have a similar but curated subset of goods at a cheap price, and the distance is much closer. HN monoculture loves to crap all over things lik…

The difficulty is that it can be both. Dollar stores almost certainly do SOME kind of good, otherwise they wouldn't exist. Unlike SV startups, I doubt the companies behind them are interested in burning piles of money without turning a profit. They ARE turning a profit, which means people are coming it, which means people find the service offered attractive. That said, people also find the service offered by drug dea…

Why are we conflating discount stores with (illegal) drug dealing?

One offers convenience, along with relatively cheap products at relatively cheap prices. They occupy retail spaces in lower-end retail outlets that would - in current conditions - likely go unoccupied.

The other is an illegal activity engaged in norms-violating economic behavior outside of the rule of law.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#102

Post by detaro »

zhdc1 wrote: post #93
seibelj wrote: post #7

The gut-reaction is that this is some horrible thing rather than a scalable business model that provides low-cost goods to customers in rural areas that were previously underserved. My family in rural Oklahoma and Texas have to drive over an hour to Wal Mart, the dollar stores have a similar but curated subset of goods at a cheap price, and the distance is much closer. HN monoculture loves to crap all over things lik…

> HN monoculture loves to crap all over things like this. I see it as deeply beneficial to society. Not everyone lives in SF or NYC and can use their iPhone to order delivery 24/7. I'm disappointed that your comment was downvoted because you're absolutely correct.

The top comment says pretty much the same, except without the stupid generalization about the HN community. Just FYI, according to dang only 50% of HN users are even from the US, and only 10% in the Bay Area, so there is a fairly large contingent you are going to annoy with such generalizations.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#103

Post by paulpauper »

seibelj wrote: post #7

The gut-reaction is that this is some horrible thing rather than a scalable business model that provides low-cost goods to customers in rural areas that were previously underserved. My family in rural Oklahoma and Texas have to drive over an hour to Wal Mart, the dollar stores have a similar but curated subset of goods at a cheap price, and the distance is much closer. HN monoculture loves to crap all over things lik…

There is no such thing as a monoculyure here. posts that are critical of dollar stores get down-voted plenty. The only type of post / viewpoint that tends to get down-voted a lot is anything too conspiratorial. Or too extreme left/right on the economic spectrum.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#104

Post by missedthecue »

Retric wrote: post #76
sokoloff wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dollar General comes in and offers local consumers a bargain that local consumers strongly prefer. Accordingly, local consumers vote with their feet. Unless the master plan is to run competitors out of town and then change to "Two Dollar General", it seems like Dollar General is good for consumers (at least if you judge by consumers' own revealed preferences).

Dollar general does frequently have a high markup in poor communities without alternatives. It’s for lack of a better term poverty optimized which counterintuitively isn’t about the lowest cost per pound of flour etc.

The shrinkage rate may also contribute to this. In other words, the more goods that are stolen from the shelves, the higher the prices have to be on everything else in order to maintain sustainability.

In this way, shoplifting is essentially a tax on everyone else in your community.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#105

Post by zhdc1 »

singlow wrote: post #23
seibelj wrote: post #7

The gut-reaction is that this is some horrible thing rather than a scalable business model that provides low-cost goods to customers in rural areas that were previously underserved. My family in rural Oklahoma and Texas have to drive over an hour to Wal Mart, the dollar stores have a similar but curated subset of goods at a cheap price, and the distance is much closer. HN monoculture loves to crap all over things lik…

I think many believe that the dollar store preys on shoppers who may think they are getting a better deal, but don't realize that the unit price is not better for many items, and often in deceptive ways.

This is like saying that vending machines prey on unfortunate office workers who didn't have the foresight to pack a 2 liter soda in their brief case.

Convenience is absolutely a justification for charging higher prices.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#106

Post by zhdc1 »

detaro wrote: post #102
zhdc1 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> HN monoculture loves to crap all over things like this. I see it as deeply beneficial to society. Not everyone lives in SF or NYC and can use their iPhone to order delivery 24/7. I'm disappointed that your comment was downvoted because you're absolutely correct.

The top comment says pretty much the same, except without the stupid generalization about the HN community. Just FYI, according to dang only 50% of HN users are even from the US, and only 10% in the Bay Area, so there is a fairly large contingent you are going to annoy with such generalizations.

The OP's comment is still absolutely correct if you replace NYC with Berlin or another European city. HN is very biased when it comes to certain subjects and, in all fairness, there is a large contingent of users here who are very willing to downvote comments simply because they disagree with their personal opinions.

Let me add context to why I upvoted the OP's comment. There are large portions of the United States (and I'm currently visiting one) where big-box discount stores simply don't exist. These are the same places where Amazon two day shipping is either not available or unreliable - Amazon doesn't pack everything in their inventory in every warehouse. Smaller discount stores add some variety, and are a benefit to people who would otherwise have to spend more in fuel and lost time to get to the nearest Costco/Walmart/what ever than they would save from lower prices.

This is an issue for a large minority of the United States, and may very well be an issue for a geographic majority (if not a large majority) of the country. I'm sure there are plenty of HN users who live in places like this, but it's also very, very likely that a majority of HN users, such as myself, live in urbanized regions - whether in the US, the EU, or in other developed areas.

While it's certainly expected that these users will have different views and opinions based on their situations and life experiences, echoing the OP's comment, I've noticed that many of them have a concerning lack of empathy for people who come from different backgrounds.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#107

Post by rootsudo »

MattGaiser wrote: post #34
jcims wrote: post #16

It's not clear to me what the problem is that the article is outlining. The Dollar General near me has the exact same brands as you would find in any larger retail establishment, they just have found a way to stock the 80% that folks typically need. They are filling a niche between the gas station convenience store and traditional grocery/big box retail. They don't have a produce section, just a bit of fruit. Is that…

The problem as I understand it is that products aren’t priced in a grocery store to all have the same margin. So the prepared foods and toiletries get marked up to make up for low margins on fresh fruit. Wealthier customers are fine with this as they want to not have to make two trips and they will pay for the fruit. Dollar stores ditch the fresh stuff and just take a lower margin on the toiletries and prepared food…

I think the argument is that these are the only options in certain areas, so it's marked up higher than grocery stores.

I think many people on HN have not been in a dollar store, not all sell for a "dollar" like Dollar Tree. Dollar General and such usually have a "larger" markup on basic goods.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#108

Post by sokoloff »

mumblemumble wrote: post #87
sokoloff wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dollar General comes in and offers local consumers a bargain that local consumers strongly prefer. Accordingly, local consumers vote with their feet. Unless the master plan is to run competitors out of town and then change to "Two Dollar General", it seems like Dollar General is good for consumers (at least if you judge by consumers' own revealed preferences).

It seems like, if this sort of thing is actually happening, then, when we strip away all the specifics, which seem to be a bit emotionally charged, we're left with a clean little fable about capitalism? "A long time ago, there was one store, and prices were high. Then a second store came to town, and prices were low. Eventually, one of the stores closed, so now we have one store again, and prices are high."

I think it's the last step that's not happening here. DG comes in, outcompetes the less efficient alternatives, and then stays DG for the long-run. IMO, making the consumers in the community better off.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#109

Post by MattGaiser »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #74
MattGaiser wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem as I understand it is that products aren’t priced in a grocery store to all have the same margin. So the prepared foods and toiletries get marked up to make up for low margins on fresh fruit. Wealthier customers are fine with this as they want to not have to make two trips and they will pay for the fruit. Dollar stores ditch the fresh stuff and just take a lower margin on the toiletries and prepared food…

The root problem is the populace being too poor to afford fresh fruit. Blaming dollar stores is a waste of time.

What I want to know is whether it actually changes fresh food consumption all that much.

The food desert discussion is about availability.

Re: Dollar stores make up nearly half of all new store openings in the U.S.

#110

Post by mrfusion »

Isn’t dollar tree the only dollar store? Dollar general is just a mini Walmart, right. No one dollar prices involved.

Also how weird that a one dollar store can exist in any kind of inflationary economy. Prices have doubled from 20-30 years ago, right?

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