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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.

#111

Post by Turing_Machine »

zwieback wrote: post #20
ybean wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your example is already biased, because you use Walmart as the other option. Walmart already came through and blew away the local mom and pop market in these rural areas. Are they more convenient than driving an hour to a walmart? probably. I've seen small family run stores go out of business specifically because they can't compete with a dollar general that opened a mile away. "Deeply beneficial" seems like a strong…

This is assuming "mom and pop stores" are beneficial. We certainly like them when driving through picturesque small towns but I know a lot of people living in those towns that prefer an efficient supplier. They understand what they lose but prefer to save money on their shopping trips.

Right.

Walmart not only sells merchandise cheaper than "Mom and Pop", they almost certainly pay their employees higher wages than Mom and Pop ever did. They also have a 401(k) (fully-vested after only 7 years) and an education program that covers tuition, books, and fees for majors of interest to Walmart (e.g., IT and supply-chain management).

The opportunities for advancement at "Mom and Pop" were pretty much limited to "Son or Daughter". By contrast, the current CEO of Walmart (annual compensation $22 million, net worth > $100 million) started working there as a summer job in high school, unloading trucks, and has never worked anywhere else.

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

#113

Post by Turing_Machine »

ergot_vacation wrote: post #52
cm2187 wrote: post #15

Stupid question from someone who doesn’t live in the US. Do they actually only sell sub-$1 products? It seems they have been operating for 30y. Inflation must severely restrict the range of products you can offer over such a long time.

This has been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, but to clarify: the business model used to be "everything (almost) is a dollar." Now it has shifted to "Everything is a (seemingly) low price, and all prices are rounded off." The strategy is predatory: You take a product like name-brand dish soap, divide it up into smaller containers (but not small enough to be obvious!) and presto, your soap is "cheaper" per unit, wh…

> The strategy is predatory: You take a product like name-brand dish soap, divide it up into smaller containers (but not small enough to be obvious!) and presto, your soap is "cheaper" per unit

I'm not sure why this is especially "predatory". It is totally normal for smaller quantities of an item to sell for a higher unit price.

Wheat is trading for $229.00/metric tonne right now. Loaves of bread are selling for about $5.00/kilogram, or $5,000/metric tonne. Is that "predatory"?

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

#114

Post by tomjen3 »

mnd999 wrote: post #46
MattGaiser wrote: post #2

Retail makes so little sense now for anything that isn’t very cheap. Otherwise you can just ship it from Amazon, Instacart, or a speciality store.

The natural conclusion of this is no retail at all, no malls and high streets reduced to cafes, hair salons and betting shops (where that’s legal). All retail goes through 2 or 3 big online suppliers with cavernous warehouses that deliver daily in vans or at a premium within the hours via bike or drone. This sounds more dystopian than utopian to me.

Why?

Repurpursing the enormous waste of land that does no longer have commercial value into cafes, hair salons, take away places and whatever else seems a more diverse, vibrant place. It also means that if you have some creative use for commercial real-estate you are likely to be charged a lower rent.

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

#115

Post by thehappypm »

mgkimsal wrote: post #80
shagmin wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Dollar General is the bad guy so much as a symptom of a problem. As it is, they're often in low income areas and have a high markup. Grocery stores have low margins that prevent them from entering these markets (hence food deserts). Dollar General fills that niche - but as a result low income people who already spend a disproportionate amount of their income on groceries have to pay that higher markup a…

outside of 'food deserts', there may be other factors people shop at DG. There's one a block from my office, and I drop in there now and then to get stuff (snacks, or light bulbs, or whatever). Almost every time I'm in there, I'll see an older person doing what seems to be a weekly shop (or more) - they'll ring up $70+ of stuff - canned/packaged foods. Clearly stuff for meals. They then get in to a taxi or rideshare…

It's really hard to spend $70 at a real grocery store, isn't it? I feel like just a small number of items suddenly you're $100+. You certainly can't buy $1 batteries or light bulbs.

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

#116

Post by thehappypm »

mithr wrote: post #45

Brings to mind Vimes' "'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness", from Terry Pratchett's Discworld: "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and…

I know this is fiction, but is it really possible to have boots that last 10 years?

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

#117

Post by arrosenberg »

sokoloff wrote: post #59
safog wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After a couple of levels of indirection, I think the whole argument hinges on one anecdote. It might indicate a general pattern, but no actual authoritative sources back it up. Original Article quotes "growing evidence suggests these stores are not merely a byproduct of economic distress. They’re a cause of it. In small towns and urban neighborhoods alike, dollar stores are triggering the closure of grocery stores, e…

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's not really great for them when they leave the store and go back to being citizens of their communities. The dollars they just spent aren't being reinvested by the local owner, they're going to a private equity firm based in New York. That's pretty clearly extractive, rather than being a mutually beneficial relationship.

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

#118

Post by bobthepanda »

thehappypm wrote: post #115
mgkimsal wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

outside of 'food deserts', there may be other factors people shop at DG. There's one a block from my office, and I drop in there now and then to get stuff (snacks, or light bulbs, or whatever). Almost every time I'm in there, I'll see an older person doing what seems to be a weekly shop (or more) - they'll ring up $70+ of stuff - canned/packaged foods. Clearly stuff for meals. They then get in to a taxi or rideshare…

It's really hard to spend $70 at a real grocery store, isn't it? I feel like just a small number of items suddenly you're $100+. You certainly can't buy $1 batteries or light bulbs.

Granted, I'm shopping for myself, but buying goods for only a week or two out I don't feel like I spend $70.

If you go to a bulk store like Costco it certainly adds up. I don't go to those places because I can never use the stuff up fast enough before it goes bad.

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

#119

Post by jimhefferon »

sokoloff wrote: post #59
safog wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After a couple of levels of indirection, I think the whole argument hinges on one anecdote. It might indicate a general pattern, but no actual authoritative sources back it up. Original Article quotes "growing evidence suggests these stores are not merely a byproduct of economic distress. They’re a cause of it. In small towns and urban neighborhoods alike, dollar stores are triggering the closure of grocery stores, e…

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).

Here is a wild guess: a new kind of store sells only the top, say, 50% of items in terms of sales numbers, and sells them for a little less. People out shopping for things all from that group go there. But everybody needs the bottom 50% sometimes, and when they do, that store is no longer around.

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

#120

Post by bobthepanda »

mumblemumble wrote: post #99
nicoburns wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you have the ability to cook a frozen TV dinner, but the not to ability to cook frozen vegetables?

I specifically chose the phrase "make good use of" over the word "cook" because it's an important distinction. Nobody can make a decent meal exclusively out of frozen vegetables; there just aren't enough macronutrients there. And everyone wants their meals to be appetizing. So it's not just about whether or not you can make frozen vegetables hot, it's about whether or not you can feasibly incorporate them into a nutr…

Also, if you're time poor, you may not have time to actually cook or meal prep. Working multiple low income jobs is not uncommon, and those jobs often tend to have very erratic schedules that you can't plan around. (Usually around limiting your hours below 30, so that the health insurance requirement does not kick in.)
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