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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.

#211

Post by ashtonkem »

pasttense01 wrote: post #29
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #4

Good article and discussion about the economics of these "Leeches of the poor": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27650477 TLDR: The products in Dollar Stores aren't 'cheap' in the sense that they cost less than other stores per unit - its just that they're (mostly) packaged into smaller units that people living paycheck to paycheck can afford.

Note the other stores mentioned: Walmart, Target and Costco--all discount stores. When you compare prices to convenience stores or drug stores the Dollar Stores are much cheaper. And when you look at Walmart, Target and Costco remember time is money. And it takes significantly longer to shop at Walmart, Target and Costco (the long walks to and from your car, the long walk in the store itself, the waits at the cashier…

Costco isn’t usually considered a discount store, it’s usually classified as a “Warehouse Club”.

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

#212

Post by ashtonkem »

robotresearcher wrote: post #57
paulpauper wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bad deal, marketed to ppl who either cannot do math or afford larger quantities

Do you buy your toilet paper by the palette direct from the manufacturer? Everybody trades off the unit size, handling costs and cash flow when buying goods.

Always bought ours from Costco in fairly large units, even when we lived in a smaller apartment.

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

#213

Post by reducesuffering »

imwillofficial wrote: post #188
tshaddox wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's always odd to me to throw Dollar General into the same category as Dollar Tree. Dollar Tree is an actual "dollar store" where literally every item costs $1. Dollar Tree's items are generally no-name discount brands that wouldn't be found in big grocery store chains, or familiar brands in unique very small packages. Dollar General, at least in the two parts of the US I've seen them in (areas of California and the…

Aren’t Dollar Tree and Dollar General owned by the same company?

No. Separate public US companies. You can buy their stock $DG and $DLTR

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

#214

Post by ranrotx »

pao wrote: post #210

I love the "invasive species" analogy, but it's just colorful BS. > This follows two decades in which Walmart’s super-charged growth left small-town retail in shambles. By building massive, oversized supercenters in larger towns, Walmart found it could attract customers from a wide radius. Smaller towns in the vicinity often suffered the brunt of its impact as their Main Street retailers weakened and, in many cases,…

Fresh food isn’t just more expensive, but it’s also harder to handle and stock. Processed food comes in neat packaging that can be unit priced, and kept frozen or shelf-stable for long period of time.

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

#215

Post by Red_Leaves_Flyy »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #171
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…

There is a presumption here that "local" grocery stores are an unalloyed good. In my experience, having grown up in these kinds of places, they were often more exploitive and extractive than the national chains. When Walmart rolls into town, many times it breaks a local monopoly that used this fact to its advantage with both customers and employees. A problem in the US is that there are many thousands of communities…

Dollar general is arguably worse than many mom and pop shops they’re replacing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/dollar-genera...

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

#216

Post by mrtesthah »

RC_ITR wrote: post #184
jandrewrogers wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a presumption here that "local" grocery stores are an unalloyed good. In my experience, having grown up in these kinds of places, they were often more exploitive and extractive than the national chains. When Walmart rolls into town, many times it breaks a local monopoly that used this fact to its advantage with both customers and employees. A problem in the US is that there are many thousands of communities…

This is the same argument about local newspapers - sure it is probably good to have local reporters covering local events, but replacing $5/line classified ads with Facebook Marketplace probably had a more positive impact on people vs. biased and poorly-read write-ups of a city counsel meetings ever did.

Moving local news to Facebook sounds like exactly the wrong thing to do.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/solution-trump-biden-polarizat...

> Studies show a direct correspondence between the closing of newspapers and the polarization of people formerly served by those newspapers.

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

#217

Post by refurb »

nicoburns wrote: post #83
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).

What is good for consumers may not be good for communities though. I'd argue that there is significant harm perpetuated on economies by the migration of wealth away from wages and small-scale profits of local businesspeople into the profits of large companies.

But consumers are the community.

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

#218

Post by refurb »

kktkti9 wrote: post #169
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).

These places exacerbate material waste and trivial spending. Dollar objects get replaced much faster than better quality objects. They’re manipulating that “new purchase” high similar to Facebook juicing us via likes.

What? Most of the items in the dollar store seem like consumables?

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

#219

Post by refurb »

I’d love to see how many HNers have actually been in a Dollar Store let alone shop at one.

Seems like a bunch of hand wringing by middle and upper-middle class Americans who consider Trader Joe budget stores and Whole Foods to be the norm.

Similar to rich white people solving minority problems by elbowing all the minorities aside and instituting the solutions they see fit.

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

#220

Post by maxlybbert »

robotresearcher wrote: post #57
paulpauper wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bad deal, marketed to ppl who either cannot do math or afford larger quantities

Do you buy your toilet paper by the palette direct from the manufacturer? Everybody trades off the unit size, handling costs and cash flow when buying goods.

Absolutely. When I do my grocery shopping, I occasionally think about how I could get a better deal on something at Costco, but I either don’t have the space or wouldn’t eat it fast enough.

The “they’re paying more per-unit because they’re buying smaller packages” crowd seems to realize this, but they think that the size packages they buy are the correct size, and anybody buying something smaller is being exploited.

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