Dollar stores are breeding out of control.

[fuzzybuddy]

We used to have "a church on every corner", now we have a dollar store on every corner. Yeah, they may be cheaper. yet, they are cropping up like dandelions. I needed some window cleaner, and tried to remember to stop and gets some. As I drove past dollar store after dollar store, I only remember to stop when the store was in the rear view mirror. It dawned on me that in a half hour drive, I passed 6 dollar stores. There's one in the middle of a state forest on a windy mountain road. I think the only local customers must be bears and racoons. Dolar stores are breeding out of control.

 

[Paladin1950]

Now you know why churches are losing parishioners on Sundays. They're all at the Dollar Stores.

 

[hollydolly]

Unfortunately our High streets ( shopping area) are all suffering the same fate.... instead of churches making way for them, they're thriving at the expense of high end stores which have had to close since ONline shopping became so huge

 

[JustDave]

Dollar Stores are a phenomenon. I can see their purpose in some locations where all one needs is a half gallon of milk, but right across the road from a major grocery store? I have no objection to them. I just don't understand why they are so popular now. I do see people on occasion with a full shopping cart checking out at Dollar General, although that's rare. When I was a kid in Chicago, the one cash register corner grocery store was common, but eventually were pushed out by the big chains. Now it seems things are in reverse.

 

[hollydolly]

Dollar Stores are a phenomenon. I can see their purpose in some locations where all one needs is a half gallon of milk, but right across the road from a major grocery store? I have no objection to them. I just don't understand why they are so popular now. I do see people on occasion with a full shopping cart checking out at Dollar General, although that's rare. When I was a kid in Chicago, the one cash register corner grocery store was common, but eventually were pushed out by the big chains. Now it seems things are in reverse.

That was because the small corner shops were more expensive.. so the supermarkets were cheaper, and therefore put the little shops out of business.. today it's the opposite.. people are more willing to buy something disposable rather than something that lasts so Hence the rise of the cheap disposable items in the Pounds shops...which have put many of the Quality store out of business..along with the rise in Online shopping

 

[Alligatorob]

Last week I went to a Dollar General "Market" in Port St. Joe, Fl, and it was huge, more like a mini-Walmart. Don't know if that's the wave of the future or just a one of a kind thing.

I find Dollar Stores can be convenient, but never expect great quality or selection.

Churches usually do smell better, but not a good place to find last minute staples...

 

[Fyrefox]

Living in the Styx, it’s about a 15-minute drive for me to get to the nearest town that has respectable stores. I can usually find what I want however or an approximation of it at a Dollar Store just a few miles away. With gas pushing $4 a gallon, I’ve become a Dollar Store convert, and I can get some name brand items there. It’s perfectly satisfactory for me for a small shopping run…

 

[fatboy]

went to an Amish discount grocery store the other day.drove thru small town with population about 250 or so.there was Family Dollar,Dollar General and Dollar Tree right next to each other.

 

[squatting dog]

 

[JustDave]

That was because the small corner shops were more expensive.. so the supermarkets were cheaper, and therefore put the little shops out of business.. today it's the opposite.. people are more willing to buy something disposable rather than something that lasts so Hence the rise of the cheap disposable items in the Pounds shops...which have put many of the Quality store out of business..along with the rise in Online shopping

If places like Dollar General and Walmart can put quality stores out of business, it seems to me that quality stores are selling the wrong things. If I want a better TV that what I can get at Walmart, I'll go to Best Buy. I know Best Buy is considered middle of the road, but where do I go if I'm looking for something that tops best buy? The internet, of course. But I don't know of any high end Camera shop within 200 miles of where I live. There isn't that kind of need for top shelf products that specialized. Those buyers are a niche group. I guess that's kind of what you said.

I don't see any difference in quality between stores that sell identical products at different prices. Costco, Walmart, Food Lion, and Target all sell Jiff peanut butter. And Trader Joes or whatever one of those real expensive stores are called are more like big city specialty shops. Most Americans don't live on that side of the tracks.

 

[jimintoronto]

Here in Canada, Dollarama is the leader in the discount retail market space. No fresh groceries, but they have made deals with many of our national retail brand names, to feature those products in the Dollarama stores. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, at a share price of $88.84 each as of this past Friday. I hold some of it, bought in at $23.90, so my investment has grown nicely. Their stores are clean, bright and well stocked. One of my friends runs a table every weekend at a Toronto area flea market, and one of his best sellers are cheap sunglasses that he buys for $1.25 at Dollarama, and sells for $4.99 at his table. He also sells "bring your own jug " dish detergent for $2.50 a jug. He buys it from Lever Brothers in 55 gallon drums, with a tap so he can fill the customer's jugs.

link to Dollarama website for BULK sales. https://www.dollarama.com/en-CA/

JImB.

 

[JustDave]

Living in the Styx, it’s about a 15-minute drive for me to get to the nearest town that has respectable stores. I can usually find what I want however or an approximation of it at a Dollar Store just a few miles away. With gas pushing $4 a gallon, I’ve become a Dollar Store convert, and I can get some name brand items there. It’s perfectly satisfactory for me for a small shopping run…

Same here. Dollar General just showed up two years ago. Before that all we had was a gas station with a convenience store, where prices were so high, it was worth the gas to drive another 25 miles for a loaf of bread. Dollar General changed that dynamic.

 

[hollydolly]

If places like Dollar General and Walmart can put quality stores out of business, it seems to me that quality stores are selling the wrong things. If I want a better TV that what I can get at Walmart, I'll go to Best Buy. I know Best Buy is considered middle of the road, but where do I go if I'm looking for something that tops best buy? The internet, of course. But I don't know of any high end Camera shop within 200 miles of where I live. There isn't that kind of need for top shelf products that specialized. Those buyers are a niche group. I guess that's kind of what you said.

I don't see any difference in quality between stores that sell identical products at different prices. Costco, Walmart, Food Lion, and Target all sell Jiff peanut butter. And Trader Joes or whatever one of those real expensive stores are called are more like big city specialty shops. Most Americans don't live on that side of the tracks.

In the Uk no-one would buy a TV from the pound store because they don't sell them. They'd go to an Electrical store .. or buy online.. if however TV's became disposable they would be much cheaper, and the Pound stores would sell them...

It's not that the higher end stores are selling the wrong things.. they're selling more expensive things.. and things which are essentially meant to last. The general populace don't want things to last, they want cheap cheerful, and disposable..

Most people in the Uk don't buy their groceries in the Pound store here... so altho' they sell bits of food.. it's not somewhere most people would do their grocery shopping...rather it's somewhere you might pick up a food item if the store is closer to you than the supermarket..or if you already happen to be shopping there for bric-a-brac

In the big supermarkets as per your example.. food prices vary greatly.. where a Jar of peanut butter might sell for £1 in one supermarket.. it would sell in another chain for £3... same peanut butter different clientèle, .. Neither are selling the wrong thing.. but the Higher end store, markets it's goods to a customer base which has more disposable income who are willing to pay higher prices..

 

[WhatInThe]

It's the $5 store around here now with cheap poop upto $5. In the meantime the old $1.25 store has decreased the quantity or weight contents of liquids & packaged goods. They used to sell a 14oz Ajax dish detergent for $1.00 now it's 12.6oz for $1.25

They said by increasing their prices they could sell a larger variety of goods. The only good thing is they frequently are getting odd lots of stuff which are a deal SOMEtimes.

 

[Alligatorob]

It's the $5 store around here now with cheap poop upto $5.

Yep, inflation will do that. Most of the "Dollar" stores don't try to sell lots of things for $1 any more.

Remember the 5 and dimes? When I was a kid everything in the Ben Franklin was 5 or 10 cents. Both Ben Franklin stores and things that sell for 5 or 10 cents are long gone.

 

[Michael Z]

They are the "WalMarts" of small isolated towns. But unfortunately, they can really hurt the small town grocery store that needs every bit of business it can get. We have two of them in a small town of 1100 near us and another one 20 miles down the highway.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

Living in the Styx, it’s about a 15-minute drive for me to get to the nearest town that has respectable stores. I can usually find what I want however or an approximation of it at a Dollar Store just a few miles away. With gas pushing $4 a gallon, I’ve become a Dollar Store convert, and I can get some name brand items there. It’s perfectly satisfactory for me for a small shopping run…

Like Fyrefox, I live in the sticks, and it's a half hour drive to get to any store, other than the dollar store about six miles from me. That's a gallon of gas @ $3.58. It's a good store to get 'must haves' when time is a factor. But when there's one every 50 feet?????????
BTW, I've noticed they aren't the cheapest. My local grocery store beats their prices. A frozen dinner @ Wies markets is $3.57; @ the Dollar store-$4.59. $1 more- maybe that's why it's a "dollar" more store.

 

[Timewise 60+]

I can honestly say that I have never been in a Dollar Store, Dollar General Store or anything like them...of course I do very little shopping!

 

[Alligatorob]

 

[Paco Dennis]

 

[Lilac]

Dollar Tree went up from $1 to $1.25 & at the same time the product amount went down. At the local IGA, I can get dog treats cheaper than the Dollar Tree now. They aren't as good of a deal to me anymore, even with gas being up. I'm still doing one main shop a month at the Walmart & Aldi. The local IGA is where I get our deli foods, their bakery breads & other brands that the bigger stores don't carry.

All of the other Dollar Stores, I thought were always highly priced unless it was something on sale that I used. I'll stop at them if we are on vacation & I need something quick.

 

[Nosy Bee-54]

Dollar Stores are a phenomenon. I can see their purpose in some locations where all one needs is a half gallon of milk, but right across the road from a major grocery store? I have no objection to them. I just don't understand why they are so popular now. I do see people on occasion with a full shopping cart checking out at Dollar General, although that's rare. When I was a kid in Chicago, the one cash register corner grocery store was common, but eventually were pushed out by the big chains. Now it seems things are in reverse.

Loading up on Twinkies, Cheetos and off brand soda.

 

[Nathan]

I take a dim view of these Dollar whatever stores, they seem to offer cheap and not-really cheap...junk. The one time I did make a purchase, it was because the local super market and Rite Aid did not have ice trays. I got a 4-pack of ice trays for $2.50 at the Dollar whatever store. I think we got at least 3 months use our of them, before the last one broke.

 

[Nosy Bee-54]

I take a dim view of these Dollar whatever stores, they seem to offer cheap and not-really cheap...junk. The one time I did make a purchase, it was because the local super market and Rite Aid did not have ice trays. I got a 4-pack of ice trays for $2.50 at the Dollar whatever store. I think we got at least 3 months use our of them, before the last one broke.

Brings to mind, you get what you pay for!

 

[hollydolly]

Like Fyrefox, I live in the sticks, and it's a half hour drive to get to any store, other than the dollar store about six miles from me. That's a gallon of gas @ $3.58. It's a good store to get 'must haves' when time is a factor. But when there's one every 50 feet?????????
BTW, I've noticed they aren't the cheapest. My local grocery store beats their prices. A frozen dinner @ Wies markets is $3.57; @ the Dollar store-$4.59. $1 more- maybe that's why it's a "dollar" more store.

Same here..The nearest pound store or equivelent is at least 10 miles from me.. so I would never consider driving just to get to one..instead if I'm in the vicinity for any other reason , that's when I may go into one, and have a browse...