Anyone notice that dollars stores sell few products that are actually a dollar.
Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
41–50 of 91 posts
Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#42When they were competitors, before the merger in 2015, they built stores next to each other. Rite Aid did the same thing with Walgreens drug stores. Then after the merger, they ended up with redundant stores in the same location. Duh! https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... The thing I don't like about these stores is IMO they take advantage of poor people who think they are getting cheaper pr…
The misconception about dollar stores is that they sell cheaper products. However it’d be cheaper to buy almost anything per unit at Costco. Dollar stores provide a service when they sell the same products but smaller sizes, which makes it easier for people who don’t have enough cash to buy stuff.
Costco has a higher income cachet, there’s a reason Charlie Munger adored it so. When you’re living in a 100sqft SRO and walking for your groceries the value of the dollar store is more obvious. Because it’s a STORE for the things you can’t fit at home that is near your home, which sells items in small quantities. The entire dollar store model is many locations and small footprint.
It doesn’t make a lick of sense for them to take their car (???) and drive over to Costco to buy a 12 pack of paper towels that will be lying around for a year or two because it’s technically cheaper per unit.
For all this talk of the poor being exploited I think people grossly underestimate in general how wise the poor is with their money. They don’t have much of it so they have to think hard about how to spend each dollar.
Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#43I hope Aldi gets 1,000 stores soon. Ideally I'd like to see 5,000+ Aldis in the US.
The love for Aldi must be very regional or personal. Because I walk into them and just see knock off snacks such as chips/poptarts, an aisle of rice and pasta, and an aisle of canned food items, and pretty much nothing else in them.
The knock offs seem to be amazing quality in my experience. I go out of my way to buy Aldi brand goods as they are either rebadged mainstream brands or even better.
Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#44When they were competitors, before the merger in 2015, they built stores next to each other. Rite Aid did the same thing with Walgreens drug stores. Then after the merger, they ended up with redundant stores in the same location. Duh! https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... The thing I don't like about these stores is IMO they take advantage of poor people who think they are getting cheaper pr…
And even then Aldi isn’t always cheaper. They make a ton of money on convenience items, like Soda. But I do agree, aldi is pretty incredible. Most of the people shopping at my local Aldi are definitely more well off.
We could probably afford to shop somewhere other than Aldi but why would we? It would easily be 20%+ more expensive for most items.
Anything we want that we can't get at Aldi (local items, good BBQ sauce, less popular stuff) we'll make a special trip for.
Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#45When they were competitors, before the merger in 2015, they built stores next to each other. Rite Aid did the same thing with Walgreens drug stores. Then after the merger, they ended up with redundant stores in the same location. Duh! https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... The thing I don't like about these stores is IMO they take advantage of poor people who think they are getting cheaper pr…
Dollar stores are good for those little on-off random kitchen chotchki, some tin foil, greeting cards, toilet drop ins, basically things that dont need to be 'buy for life' but there is no need to spend regular grocery store prices for that thing you will use rarely - and such.
Never for food.
Oh and now that im older and I need lots of reading glasses - its GREAT for 1$ reading glasses - so now they are scattered all over the place so I am pretty much always within an arms reach of them.
If I break them, its fine - but thats a great use of these stores.
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@margalabargala : True - but sometimes I only need a little bit. I dont use very much tinfoil... aside for my Hat Collection... but thats not what we're talking about. Can see some ID?
Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#46When they were competitors, before the merger in 2015, they built stores next to each other. Rite Aid did the same thing with Walgreens drug stores. Then after the merger, they ended up with redundant stores in the same location. Duh! https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... The thing I don't like about these stores is IMO they take advantage of poor people who think they are getting cheaper pr…
For the truly poor on food stamps Aldi is not an option. They do not accept food stamps.
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Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#47When they were competitors, before the merger in 2015, they built stores next to each other. Rite Aid did the same thing with Walgreens drug stores. Then after the merger, they ended up with redundant stores in the same location. Duh! https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... The thing I don't like about these stores is IMO they take advantage of poor people who think they are getting cheaper pr…
The misconception about dollar stores is that they sell cheaper products. However it’d be cheaper to buy almost anything per unit at Costco. Dollar stores provide a service when they sell the same products but smaller sizes, which makes it easier for people who don’t have enough cash to buy stuff.
Costco is only cheaper if (a) you will always use the full amount of product before it spoils or you no longer need it and (b) the cost of traveling the extra distance and spending more time shopping is lower than what you save on the purchase itself. It's not the case that these are both satisfied for everyone.
Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#48When they were competitors, before the merger in 2015, they built stores next to each other. Rite Aid did the same thing with Walgreens drug stores. Then after the merger, they ended up with redundant stores in the same location. Duh! https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... The thing I don't like about these stores is IMO they take advantage of poor people who think they are getting cheaper pr…
The misconception about dollar stores is that they sell cheaper products. However it’d be cheaper to buy almost anything per unit at Costco. Dollar stores provide a service when they sell the same products but smaller sizes, which makes it easier for people who don’t have enough cash to buy stuff.
Even if you take Costco out of the picture, Walmart is almost always cheaper for basically everything at a (now more than a) dollar store.
There are a few exceptions (nothing I've found beats their helium balloons, if in stock). But dollar stores are everywhere.
Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#49When they were competitors, before the merger in 2015, they built stores next to each other. Rite Aid did the same thing with Walgreens drug stores. Then after the merger, they ended up with redundant stores in the same location. Duh! https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... The thing I don't like about these stores is IMO they take advantage of poor people who think they are getting cheaper pr…
The misconception about dollar stores is that they sell cheaper products. However it’d be cheaper to buy almost anything per unit at Costco. Dollar stores provide a service when they sell the same products but smaller sizes, which makes it easier for people who don’t have enough cash to buy stuff.
Being poor is expensive because you can't hit even modest economies of scale.
Re: Family Dollar to close almost 1,000 stores
#50When they were competitors, before the merger in 2015, they built stores next to each other. Rite Aid did the same thing with Walgreens drug stores. Then after the merger, they ended up with redundant stores in the same location. Duh! https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... The thing I don't like about these stores is IMO they take advantage of poor people who think they are getting cheaper pr…
Another good thing about Aldi is that they let their cashiers sit down. It's unethical that other grocery chains don't provide chairs for their cashiers.
Isn’t sitting less healthy than standing? Though, I agree, there should be stools. I see fatigued old timers at the registers who look like they could use a respit.