Mighty Dollar Stores
In a recent article about dollar stores and the recession, the New York Times reports that dollar stores seem to be thriving. According to the Times, “the nation’s dollar stores, those once-dowdy chains that lured shoppers by selling some or all of their merchandise for $1, are suddenly hot. They are busily opening new stores, outfitting existing stores with refrigerators and freezers, and sprucing up their aisles with better lighting, fresh paint and new signs.” The article goes on to note that Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree have all opened new stores and have plans to open more stores in the next year. In addition, these dollar stores are now offering more grocery items (some stores even have frozen food sections) and household necessities in an attempt to attract new customers and poach business from traditional grocery stores and larger retailers.
Shoppers interviewed in the article mention both the low prices and the appeals of a smaller store – less crowded, easier to find what they want, better customer service – as reasons for shopping at the dollar store.
Has the current economy impacted where you shop? Do you find yourself shopping for any items at a dollar store? Why or why not?
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I shop at the dollar stores too, have for years. I also shop Wal-mart-it’s ONE-STOP shopping. Our family has put our priorities in order and are helping each other with debt they should have never occurred in the first place. They are a young couple and like alot of young and inexpearinced in life they thought they could have it all at once-but we as a family will help this time. Being dumb and “head in the clouds” excuse only works once. They were raised better!
The dollar stores are strong in some areas and others are strong in other items. Know about all, you decide. Be a smart shopper!
The condition of the economy has definitely impacted where I shop. Before the fall of the economy, I used to be all about getting everything in one store. Now, I am all about making less frequent trips and planning to shop stores on my way home from or when I will be in the area, as I am not too confident that gas prices won’t begin to spike again. I frequently browse store sales ads, and I sometimes end up picking up a few things here or there. I am highly aware of prices and most times I shop the warehouse stores, like BJs to buy in bulk what I know is a good price and I use the most.
I have not really increased my trips to the dollar stores. I highly question the quality of some of their products. Friends I know who used to work in one say they do not pay too much attention to the expiration dates on the food products they sell, and there may be expired items on the store shelves customers may not be aware of. I was unfortunate enough to purchase a cleaning product there only to find out when I tried to use it, it was dried up inside the bottle.
For me, the dollar store is good when I am in a pinch, but I don’t really think I would frequently shop one. Prices are not that much cheaper than a big box store or even the generic grocery store products.
Since about 2003 I have been shopping at the dollar store. Their instant and ground coffe is cheaper, where as a jar of Maxwell House instant in the Supermarket goes for 5.99 a jar, in the dollar store it goes for 3.75 a jar.
However some stores are different than others, the prices in the one I go to here in my home town of MA are definitly cheaper than the Big Stores. Especially when it comes to toiletries, dishsoap, laundry detergent and so forth.
In the rural area where I live we have fewer choices of where to shop.
Wal-mart is 30 minutes away. The Goody’s 15 minutes away just went bankrupt. The nearest mall is over an hour away. But I’ve got 3 dollar stores within a 5 minute drive. So if we need socks or run out of laundry detergent & don’t want to drive 30 miles to save 15 or 20 cents … guess who gets my money?
Dollar stores have always been on my RADAR. I don’t worry if the crackers expired last month, but I have found that products with oils in them like salad dressings are dicey, as they might be “off”. IF you really compare with other non-dollar stores, you will notice that Wal-Mart is NOT the cheapest when you actually calculate the per use price, by any means, so I don’t waste the gas to drive all the way out there. I shop at a small stores closer to home which are often the dollar stores, combined with other errands. Who saves time going to Wal-Mart? Half hour to get there, half mile in from the parking lot, another half mile to find the item and half hour in the check out line.