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> Four new dollar stores will open in the U.S. every single day of 2019. That's a new dollar store every six hours. There are more dollar stores than there are

by usaphp 7y ago

> Four new dollar stores will open in the U.S. every single day of 2019. That's a new dollar store every six hours. There are more dollar stores than there are Walmarts, McDonald’s and CVS stores combined I wonder what is causing that, in the times of Amazon, how do these stores survive?

disillusioned 7y ago
They serve, almost exclusively, the poor. They end up being the line of last resort for the poor and very poor to eat food, buy toiletries, and other must-haves. They supply a facsimile of nutrition but because they are "cheap" in a way that everyone can conceive of, and because they have a strong supply chain that is affordable for the companies themselves to run, they end up filling in the gaps in much of suburban and rural America, where grocery stores are nearly nonexistent. Some real interesting stories on their negative effects on communities here: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/08/23/dollar-store-dominance-comes-with-a-cost-for-low-income-americans https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/08/23/dollar-store-dominan... https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/12/30/will-dollar-stores-be-the-end-of-local-american-retail-ilsr-seems-to-think-so/#160b4b456194 https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/12/30/will-dol... https://www.fastcompany.com/90278384/why-dollar-stores-are-bad-business-for-the-neighborhoods-they-open-in https://www.fastcompany.com/90278384/why-dollar-stores-are-b... https://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-stores-taking-over-america-2018-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-stores-taking-over-am...
randycupertino 7y ago
We live in a ritzy town on the SF Peninsula where hhi is routinely 400k and up, and our dollar store is constantly mobbed. Sometimes it's so mobbed that it actually backs up traffic on El Camino Real because so many people are waiting to pull into the parking lot. I think a lot of shoppers rely on it for basics like toiletries and other items you'd get from Target or Walmart. The markups on Amazon for these items are actually pretty outrageous. Amazon, imo is not cheap - and also way too high of a risk of getting a fake and knockoff product. At least in a brick and mortar store you can be confident in the supply chain and know you're not getting some sketchy reseller from China. We bought some decorations for our wedding there and they were perfectly adequate. No lesser quality than anything we would have gotten from amazon or a party store, imo.
- solarkraft 7y ago
  > At least in a brick and mortar store you can be confident in the supply chain and know you're not getting some sketchy reseller from China. Isn't this exactly what makes them so cheap?
  - randycupertino 7y ago
    I'm no expert, but I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Dollar Stores get their inventory from almost expired products that didn't sell via traditional retail channels, same with overorders or discontinued products. It's coming from real companies and is not knockoffs, but it's more the same style stuff that doesn't sell in Target etc. Whereas in Amazon I've gotten faked products- instead of Jeffree Star lipstick is "Deffree Star" etc. Or just completely accurate looking banana powder but it smells off and doesn't work correctly - after investigating on reddit some other people had gotten the same knockoff- turns out it was just baby powder died yellow. Since getting so many fakes on Amazon, we stopped buying anything from there that goes on your body or in your body. It sucks, tbh. I'd rather pay a way higher markup and be guaranteed the product is legitimate than be rolling the dice with who knows what from China.

by usaphp 7y ago

disillusioned 7y ago

They serve, almost exclusively, the poor. They end up being the line of last resort for the poor and very poor to eat food, buy toiletries, and other must-haves. They supply a facsimile of nutrition but because they are "cheap" in a way that everyone can conceive of, and because they have a strong supply chain that is affordable for the companies themselves to run, they end up filling in the gaps in much of suburban and rural America, where grocery stores are nearly nonexistent. Some real interesting stories on their negative effects on communities here: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/08/23/dollar-store-dominance-comes-with-a-cost-for-low-income-americans https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/08/23/dollar-store-dominan... https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/12/30/will-dollar-stores-be-the-end-of-local-american-retail-ilsr-seems-to-think-so/#160b4b456194 https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/12/30/will-dol... https://www.fastcompany.com/90278384/why-dollar-stores-are-bad-business-for-the-neighborhoods-they-open-in https://www.fastcompany.com/90278384/why-dollar-stores-are-b... https://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-stores-taking-over-america-2018-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-stores-taking-over-am...

randycupertino 7y ago

We live in a ritzy town on the SF Peninsula where hhi is routinely 400k and up, and our dollar store is constantly mobbed. Sometimes it's so mobbed that it actually backs up traffic on El Camino Real because so many people are waiting to pull into the parking lot. I think a lot of shoppers rely on it for basics like toiletries and other items you'd get from Target or Walmart. The markups on Amazon for these items are actually pretty outrageous. Amazon, imo is not cheap - and also way too high of a risk of getting a fake and knockoff product. At least in a brick and mortar store you can be confident in the supply chain and know you're not getting some sketchy reseller from China. We bought some decorations for our wedding there and they were perfectly adequate. No lesser quality than anything we would have gotten from amazon or a party store, imo.

solarkraft 7y ago
> At least in a brick and mortar store you can be confident in the supply chain and know you're not getting some sketchy reseller from China. Isn't this exactly what makes them so cheap?
- randycupertino 7y ago
  I'm no expert, but I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Dollar Stores get their inventory from almost expired products that didn't sell via traditional retail channels, same with overorders or discontinued products. It's coming from real companies and is not knockoffs, but it's more the same style stuff that doesn't sell in Target etc. Whereas in Amazon I've gotten faked products- instead of Jeffree Star lipstick is "Deffree Star" etc. Or just completely accurate looking banana powder but it smells off and doesn't work correctly - after investigating on reddit some other people had gotten the same knockoff- turns out it was just baby powder died yellow. Since getting so many fakes on Amazon, we stopped buying anything from there that goes on your body or in your body. It sucks, tbh. I'd rather pay a way higher markup and be guaranteed the product is legitimate than be rolling the dice with who knows what from China.