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A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

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Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#81

Post by war1025 »

brad0 wrote: post #22
war1025 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in rural Iowa, Dollar General also has claimed the niche of "less stuff, but also nearby". You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar General for most of your basic needs, or you can drive a half hour to the nearest city with a Walmart / Target / etc. I really quite like stopping by to grab a quick thing or two. Around here, there tends to be a local grocery chain in the same vicinity, so gene…

I’m curious, what do you do for work in Iowa?

I live in what would be considered more urban Iowa. I work in the ISU Research Park [1] for a company doing software development. My brother lives in our hometown and works as an industrial engineer at a plant that makes bio fertilizer and pesticide products [2]. We also have a sock factory in town, which I think is pretty neat [3]. Iowa really has a pretty diverse and thriving economy. It's a good place.

[1] http://www.isupark.org/tenant-directory/

[2] https://www.valentbiosciences.com/about/osage-plant/

[3] https://www.foxsox.com/

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#82

Post by learc83 »

Izkata wrote: post #56
njarboe wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"consumers prefer processed foods, sodas, chips, things placed in boxes and plastic" These things also last on the shelves for a very long time. Grains can store well, but other products like meat, fruits, vegetables, quality baked goods, etc. don't.

Not to mention the seal means you know it hasn't been handled by other customers. Who knows how dirty the unpackaged "fresh" food has gotten.

Probably not any dirtier than it was when it was growing in the dirt. That's why you wash fruits and vegetables before eating them.

Even packaged foods like bagged lettuce can be very dirty (contaminated with E. coli) as well.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#83

Post by 171243 »

analognoise wrote: post #52
harlanji wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I prefer being homeless in the Bay Area to going anywhere else to live for cheap, as people invite me. I spent like 4 days in a nice place in GA, in a downtown without baguettes, and came right back. I can shop at organic markets and coops everywhere. The high rent is a better cost than gas when housed.

Wait...what? You're homeless and chose to leave a nice place because it had a downtown without baguettes? I mean we've all got our priorities but that sounds like perhaps you should examine your "needs" column more strongly.

Cliff notes:

    * He is homeless by choice in the Bay Area
    * He lives off the generosity of others
    * He prefers this life style opposed to not have baguettes
    * A Nice place in Georgia is shit compared to shit in San Fransisco
Not my opinions, just restating the original points

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#84

Post by Fins »

harlanji wrote: post #38
war1025 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in rural Iowa, Dollar General also has claimed the niche of "less stuff, but also nearby". You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar General for most of your basic needs, or you can drive a half hour to the nearest city with a Walmart / Target / etc. I really quite like stopping by to grab a quick thing or two. Around here, there tends to be a local grocery chain in the same vicinity, so gene…

This is why I prefer being homeless in the Bay Area to going anywhere else to live for cheap, as people invite me. I spent like 4 days in a nice place in GA, in a downtown without baguettes, and came right back. I can shop at organic markets and coops everywhere. The high rent is a better cost than gas when housed.

Umm, Bay Area has decent baguettes somewhere?!

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#86

Post by 0db532a0 »

Izkata wrote: post #56
njarboe wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"consumers prefer processed foods, sodas, chips, things placed in boxes and plastic" These things also last on the shelves for a very long time. Grains can store well, but other products like meat, fruits, vegetables, quality baked goods, etc. don't.

Not to mention the seal means you know it hasn't been handled by other customers. Who knows how dirty the unpackaged "fresh" food has gotten.

I don’t remember the last time I died from eating loose fresh fruit and veg.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#87

Post by hakfoo »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #72
hajile wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are products more expensive in poor neighborhoods? If there were real profits to be reaped, certainly stores would be moving in and enjoying high profit margins rather than leaving. The answer should lie elsewhere and it does. Cost of doing business in those neighborhoods is very high. Vandalism and robbery jack up insurance rates. Companies don't want to deliver there because they don't want the risk, so they ch…

“Cost of doing business in those neighborhoods is very high. Vandalism and robbery jack up insurance rates.“ Oof. I was with you til this. For a large grocery store chain, the occasional vandalism/shoplifting incident is nothing. Built into the price, as they say. The real reason they don’t operate in these areas is because a poor community spends less money than a rich community. If you have to stretch your floor sp…

But that doesn't mean that a company with the resources of Kroger couldn't also manage a brand that aimed significantly lower.

In Arizona, there's a local grocery chain (Bashas') that's been around since before WWII. They have three very distinct brands-- the mainstream brand, a decidedly lower-class brand with a string Hispanic focus, and a deluxe brand which seems to target a more foodie, but similarly affluent audience to Whole Foods.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#88

Post by hajile »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #72
hajile wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are products more expensive in poor neighborhoods? If there were real profits to be reaped, certainly stores would be moving in and enjoying high profit margins rather than leaving. The answer should lie elsewhere and it does. Cost of doing business in those neighborhoods is very high. Vandalism and robbery jack up insurance rates. Companies don't want to deliver there because they don't want the risk, so they ch…

“Cost of doing business in those neighborhoods is very high. Vandalism and robbery jack up insurance rates.“ Oof. I was with you til this. For a large grocery store chain, the occasional vandalism/shoplifting incident is nothing. Built into the price, as they say. The real reason they don’t operate in these areas is because a poor community spends less money than a rich community. If you have to stretch your floor sp…

Compare prices between a Dollar General in a poor neighborhood and a walmart. One of those is going to be 30% higher (even more on some things). Supermarkets have a net profit of 1-2%. If walmart could charge 30% more for the same thing, they'd build in poor neighborhoods every time. They don't because the risk is too high when a store a couple minutes away offers lower overhead, lower prices and lower risk. Walmart tried this with walmart express then killed most of them off (keeping some larger neighborhood markets in better neighborhoods) because they weren't turning a profit.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/01/22/wa...

Companies like Whole Foods are not typical of grocery chains. They will go wherever their niche is located. That would be like complaining there aren't Swiss watch stores on every corner. There is something to be said for branding and location, but even Walmart with their "

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#89

Post by mattnewton »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #51
likeclockwork wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Iowans probably drive everywhere at 80mph.

The Californians are more likely to be driving 75. That doesn't make much difference over a 20-minute trip.

Santa cruzian here: I don’t, the views and the weather are too nice to rush and put yourself in danger. Besides you’d probably just be rushing into traffic most days.

Re: A Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun

#90

Post by froindt »

war1025 wrote: post #81
brad0 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious, what do you do for work in Iowa?

I live in what would be considered more urban Iowa. I work in the ISU Research Park [1] for a company doing software development. My brother lives in our hometown and works as an industrial engineer at a plant that makes bio fertilizer and pesticide products [2]. We also have a sock factory in town, which I think is pretty neat [3]. Iowa really has a pretty diverse and thriving economy. It's a good place. [1] http://…

That research park has really grown in the last 5 years! I'm finishing up my masters degree online, but it was always interesting to see how it grew while I was on campus. I networked with people from Workiva, Vermeer, and Proplanner over the years. John Deere is in the mix too now (which was natural with how much research they fund on campus).
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