8 ms·

I must have missed something in the article. the main cons I gleaned are - some items are not as cheap as walmat/costco like Fluor - they dont create as much

I must have missed something in the article. the main cons I gleaned are - some items are not as cheap as walmat/costco like Fluor - they dont create as much jobs as traditional grocery stoes ( 9 vs 14) I assume the folks who are struggling are not stupid .. and have looked at every conceivable way of stretching their dollar and judging by the demand it (Dollar store) is providing a valuable service. I take another exception to the approach this article takes .. instead of complaining about dollar stores moving into poor/urban areas why are they giving a pass to the established grocery chains for moving out ? it seems like providing 9 employment positions is better than the 0 being offered by the other stores.

dclowd9901 8y ago
“I assume the folks who are struggling are not stupid .. and have looked at every conceivable way of stretching their dollar and judging by the demand it (Dollar store) is providing a valuable service.” I don’t believe this assumption is correct, but I also don’t think the individuals are stupid. It’s still true, however, that one can act against their long term interests when they are too poor to consider the long term over the short term. It’s not stupid; it’s just surviving. They may only be shopping at these stores because they’re the only ones close by and they simply don’t have the luxury of time to suss out alternatives.
- rtpg 8y ago
  Cash flow problems compound extremely quickly and a lot of “everyday” stuff ends up hitting this quickly. If you’re scraping by in normal circumstances and then have any car trouble, you’ll probably end up buying the 6 pack of eggs instead of 12 pack, simply because you can’t afford 12
ravenstine 8y ago
> I assume the folks who are struggling are not stupid .. and have looked at every conceivable way of stretching their dollar One might assume. Possibly the biggest trouble of dollar stores is that a lot of the "deals" are the result of simply selling things in smaller quantities. The next time you visit a Dollar Tree, compare the actual amount that you get for something like flour, oatmeal, detergent... really anything, to the sizes sold at normal stores. Things are often cheaper at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar because the containers are smaller, often 2/3 size, and sometimes the price for goods at dollar is more than elsewhere when adjusted for quantity. There are some deals to be found at Dollar Stores, but it's not as if similar deals can't be found at normal stores. Dollar Stores compete because of perception. I occasionally stroll into a 99 Cents Only store and there was a time when they had big juicy mangoes for 1/3 of the price of the mangos at the local Ralphs or Vons. I bought some on the spot and they were delicious. But that's one of the ways that dollar stores get new believers; they will have a few really good deals on things that aren't really essential, like mangos, to get people to think "wow!" and assume that all the other low prices around them are just as good of a deal.
- saryant 8y ago
  The price per unit may be higher but for someone with limited cash and no credit, that may still be a better option.
- jeswin 8y ago
  > The next time you visit a Dollar Tree, compare the actual amount that you get for something like flour, oatmeal, detergent... really anything, to the sizes sold at normal stores. Many financially constrained people have a cash flow problem - they often end up spending more as you said. However, buying larger quantities is still not an option because the money is simply not there. Being able to plan out a month is a luxury in some ways.
  - dorchadas 8y ago
    Exactly. It's one of the biggest issues in trying to help people out of poverty. As Sam Vimes's "Boot Theory" sums it up: >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 then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. >But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. >This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness. It's essentially true. Poorer people have to buy the smaller quantities/cheaper materials because it's all they can afford. And because of that, they end up having to buy it more often, often spending more in the long run. I'm actively trying to change my wardrobe now that I've realized that, and buy clothes that will last longer as opposed to cheaper ones that I have to replace more often. Thankfully, I have the money to do so, but many do not.
    - 8y ago
iicc 8y ago
>I assume the folks who are struggling are not stupid They are more stupid than they would be if they weren't struggling. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2013/08/29/poor-concentration-poverty-reduces-brainpower-needed-navigating-other-areas-life https://www.princeton.edu/news/2013/08/29/poor-concentration... > On average, a person preoccupied with money problems exhibited a drop in cognitive function similar to a 13-point dip in IQ, or the loss of an entire night’s sleep.

dclowd9901 8y ago

“I assume the folks who are struggling are not stupid .. and have looked at every conceivable way of stretching their dollar and judging by the demand it (Dollar store) is providing a valuable service.” I don’t believe this assumption is correct, but I also don’t think the individuals are stupid. It’s still true, however, that one can act against their long term interests when they are too poor to consider the long term over the short term. It’s not stupid; it’s just surviving. They may only be shopping at these stores because they’re the only ones close by and they simply don’t have the luxury of time to suss out alternatives.

rtpg 8y ago
Cash flow problems compound extremely quickly and a lot of “everyday” stuff ends up hitting this quickly. If you’re scraping by in normal circumstances and then have any car trouble, you’ll probably end up buying the 6 pack of eggs instead of 12 pack, simply because you can’t afford 12

ravenstine 8y ago

> I assume the folks who are struggling are not stupid .. and have looked at every conceivable way of stretching their dollar One might assume. Possibly the biggest trouble of dollar stores is that a lot of the "deals" are the result of simply selling things in smaller quantities. The next time you visit a Dollar Tree, compare the actual amount that you get for something like flour, oatmeal, detergent... really anything, to the sizes sold at normal stores. Things are often cheaper at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar because the containers are smaller, often 2/3 size, and sometimes the price for goods at dollar is more than elsewhere when adjusted for quantity. There are some deals to be found at Dollar Stores, but it's not as if similar deals can't be found at normal stores. Dollar Stores compete because of perception. I occasionally stroll into a 99 Cents Only store and there was a time when they had big juicy mangoes for 1/3 of the price of the mangos at the local Ralphs or Vons. I bought some on the spot and they were delicious. But that's one of the ways that dollar stores get new believers; they will have a few really good deals on things that aren't really essential, like mangos, to get people to think "wow!" and assume that all the other low prices around them are just as good of a deal.

saryant 8y ago
The price per unit may be higher but for someone with limited cash and no credit, that may still be a better option.
jeswin 8y ago
> The next time you visit a Dollar Tree, compare the actual amount that you get for something like flour, oatmeal, detergent... really anything, to the sizes sold at normal stores. Many financially constrained people have a cash flow problem - they often end up spending more as you said. However, buying larger quantities is still not an option because the money is simply not there. Being able to plan out a month is a luxury in some ways.
- dorchadas 8y ago
  Exactly. It's one of the biggest issues in trying to help people out of poverty. As Sam Vimes's "Boot Theory" sums it up: >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 then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. >But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. >This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness. It's essentially true. Poorer people have to buy the smaller quantities/cheaper materials because it's all they can afford. And because of that, they end up having to buy it more often, often spending more in the long run. I'm actively trying to change my wardrobe now that I've realized that, and buy clothes that will last longer as opposed to cheaper ones that I have to replace more often. Thankfully, I have the money to do so, but many do not.
  - 8y ago

iicc 8y ago

>I assume the folks who are struggling are not stupid They are more stupid than they would be if they weren't struggling. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2013/08/29/poor-concentration-poverty-reduces-brainpower-needed-navigating-other-areas-life https://www.princeton.edu/news/2013/08/29/poor-concentration... > On average, a person preoccupied with money problems exhibited a drop in cognitive function similar to a 13-point dip in IQ, or the loss of an entire night’s sleep.