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jabbadarth t1_j5i2p9m wrote

Reply to comment by Superjondude in Dollar stores were the fastest-growing food retailers by household expenditure share between 2008 to 2020 according to Tufts University. While they still represent a small fraction of national household food purchases, they play an increasingly prominent role for disadvantaged and rural communities. by shiruken

They are also selling convenience. They don't build near grocery stores or wal marts. They build in small towns where there are few shopping options or where stores are relatively long drives away. I watched a video on dollar general a while back and they jave a very specific set of standards on where they build based on total population, population density and proximity to other retailers. They have grown massively over the last few years using this location model.

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killerk14 t1_j5i8bv0 wrote

It’s a good thing. Not a lot of businesses are willing to spend the extra transportation costs and suffer lower access to labor and customers, but luckily this model can thrive in this environment. It provides jobs where otherwise there aren’t any, the excess costs for customers is offset by less gas spent traveling and getting their valuable time back. Any kind of economic stimulus in the areas DG serves is a godsend. Property managers and developers, for example, often don’t touch rural areas.some communities of 5k and under haven’t seen new builds since the 80s.

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jabbadarth t1_j5i8zwq wrote

Yes and no. They also thrive by understaffing stores and pay is pretty low overall. So they really only bring a handful of jobs to any area they are in and those jobs generally aren't great. There is an argument to be made that they are providing a service where others aren't but its not all positive and great.

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FireHeartSmokeBurp t1_j5ieyi9 wrote

Yeah our Dollar General looks like the staff is paid generally a dollar. Shelves are never reorganized, abandoned stocking equipment blocking the aisles, don't restock for weeks. I can't blame them, I doubt they're being paid well but you can glaringly tell by the quality of the store management

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ImmodestPolitician t1_j5j6tda wrote

"don't restock for weeks"

Dollar stores business model is to buy remnants and excess inventory. They buy whatever they can get a deal on.

They can't restock until they can find another deal.

Aldi is similar for many of their products. Sometimes they have pork loin ribs, most of the time they don't.

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aoskunk t1_j5iuzpv wrote

It’s the same at mine. And it’s only another mile to Walmart. It’s somehow seems busy though, I guess a lot of lazy people. I went in for ice cream once and the only mint chocolate chip they had was this horribly dented one that for some reason had a gritty texture. I actually ended up throwing it out. It wasn’t expired either. They’re so short staffed that they’re easy to steal from I imagine.

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WayneKrane t1_j5l4jpb wrote

I bought a candy bar there and it disintegrated when I opened it up. Never have I bought food from one again.

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notsureifxml t1_j5l0dne wrote

at least yours is open. im never sure if mine will be.

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toastymow t1_j5jb342 wrote

>They also thrive by understaffing stores and pay is pretty low overall.

I agree. The thing is, in my experience, most large-scale retail/food service chains operate with this model. If Dollar General didn't do this, it would just be some other corporation.

The problem is we simply do not have good economic laws, worker protections, etc. There is nothing stopping Dollar General from staffing every store with 1 or 2 people and running them ragged, especially if those people have very limited employment options.

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TbonerT t1_j5jeb2z wrote

I saw someone at a Dollar Tree wearing their 5 Below pullover. It made sense to me that they probably didn’t get paid very well.

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CampaignOk8351 t1_j5joqwg wrote

Is it understaffing if they're thriving?

If they're understaffed, wouldn't they be failing?

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jabbadarth t1_j5jp0qx wrote

No, they make profits by forcing people to overwork. People take the jobs because they are desperate.

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killerk14 t1_j5iag3k wrote

Unless the business you’re shopping at is owned by somebody literally living in your town or city, you’re giving money to a corporation who runs the same unethical margins and profiteering. Corporations aren’t charities. I’m not a fan of this system but that’s the world we live in. If you typed your comment on a phone or computer that wasn’t entirely built in your neighborhood, a corporation underpaying and overcharging people was involved somewhere in the process. This is the system. Any economic activity is better for those communities than none.

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jabbadarth t1_j5ib3s3 wrote

>any economic activity is better for those communities than none.

  1. This assumes these areas have zero economic activity

  2. That ignores everything I pointed out

I fail to see how paying a handful of people minimum wage is much of an economic boost to a small town. How does that benefit the thousands of other people?

Also I wasn't making some self righteous don't give money to corporations stand I was merely pointing out that your comment, which made it seem like having a dollar general is a guaranteed net benefit to an area, was not completely true. One could easily argue that dollar general is growing by taking advantage of people in a tough economic position by paying little and charging more to suck as much money out of an area as possible.

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danielravennest t1_j5jxzbt wrote

The Family Dollar in my town is literally across the street from the small-chain supermarket. But they carry items like clothing that the supermarket doesn't. Meanwhile, the big chain stores like Kroger and Walmart are 4 miles away. I almost never shop at Family Dollar.

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MoreLikeCANSasCity t1_j5k3w11 wrote

Same in my town. Dollar General a quarter mile from our locally owned grocery store. The nearest Walmart is a solid 25-minute drive, however. I have still never shopped at Dollar General, though. Just the disorganization of it gives me anxiety, and if we lose our grocery store then we lose our produce section and I won't stand for that.

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WayneKrane t1_j5l44xi wrote

I’ve gone into those stores on occasion and almost always leave without buying anything. The shelves are disheveled, the cashier is busy stocking so you have to wait for them to come to the front and the prices are not that cheap for what you get. I bought some plasticware for an office party and they were so flimsy they were useless.

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smuckola t1_j5quiqu wrote

And Family Dollar has some of the identical staple foods cheaper than my grocery chain located next door in the same parking lot. Such as bottled water, sauces (Hunt’s marinara, my fave), and milk. We have the good name brand milk from multiple regional bottlers that’s cheapest at Family Dollar. The only places cheaper for other high quality milk brands are Aldi and Costco.

Other items at the dollar stores are cheaper because they’re smaller from shrinkflation.

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Jilltro t1_j5knssg wrote

They put one near my dads a few years ago. He lives in a suburb and if you need something right away it’s either go to Dollar General right up the street or take a 40 minute round trip to the huge Walmart. Much more convenient and still cheaper than trying to find what you need at a gas station.

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notsureifxml t1_j5l01dn wrote

i live in a town that got a dollar general in the last couple years. I am a knowledgeable frugal grocery shopper. In a pinch, I am glad we have DG though (when they can actually staff it) because the grocery store is a hike and paying $0.59 more for a gallon of milk or loaf of bread is worth not having to make an hour long round trip to the grocery store

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