I thought their entire business model intentionally targets financially constrained customers. Why is that a problem now?
Because capitalism’s perpetual growth cornerstone demands profits increase exponentially.
If Americans are too poor to shop at the dollar store, I guess we might actually have to eat the rich.
Went to a “dollar store” recently and as it turns out, not a single damn thing in there was actually $1.
$1.50? $2? $5? $10? Absolutely.
So just more corporate greed under the guise of inflation aimed at people who are “financially constrained”.
(Also the rich go great with a nice red wine.)
Also, those inexpensive (non-food) items are lower quality and will wear out/break faster. Poverty charges interest…
Even the food items are sold in crazy tiny portions that in general, but not always, are a rip off compared to most other stores.
It’s amazing what you can get away with when you operate a store in a food desert!
Yep.
The first time I read it when I was a wee child, I really didn’t get the whole Boots Theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory) but boy, is that ever the most succinct description of how modern capitalism works.
Remember that these used to be called a “5 and dime”. The concept is the same but the pricing changes over time. Eventually we’ll stop thinking of them as a dollar store.
The dollar store is more expensive outside ephemeral purchases like party supplies… it’s cheaper to go to mass furnishing retailers, grocery stores or hardware stores and your shit doesn’t break in two weeks.
Most customers looking for extreme budget items are now turning overseas to things like temu because they actually deliver lower prices.
Dollar stores are exploitive as fuck.
Dollar general isn’t actually a “dollar store”, more like a “discount” store. They sit in-between a dollar store and traditional store. They’ll have more recognizable name brand products VS a dollar store, but the sizing might be smaller or slightly damaged packaging. They’re like a Burlington or TJ Maxx, but with smaller stores and sell groceries.
That being said, our actual dollar stores like Dollar Tree have also gotten more expensive, used to be everything was a dollar. Now many things are a 1.25 going up to 5 for the more…“premium” stuff
Their prices get higher and higher and their stores get mismanaged from the top (John Oliver did a whole segment on this I recommend looking up). Their customers are financially constrained because they are gouging them.
Their customers are also often in food deserts. If they can’t afford to shop at Dollar General, they’re going to the soup kitchen.
I love how they blamed the customers.
As if they weren’t purposely treating employees like shit and understaffing.
Over pictures of stores overcrowded with unboxed products, Oliver described dollar stores as “less like functioning stores and more like American Ninja Warrior: Retail Edition”
“That chaos isn’t a one-off mistake or the fault of those stores’ employees,” he said. “It is the natural end product of how the companies behind these stores choose to operate them. And if you think it can be bad shopping at a dollar store, it is nothing compared to what it’s like working there.”
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/nov/20/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-dollar-stores
It’s not just that, while per unit things may be cheaper there, it’s because they sell things in smaller sizes.
Can never remember if something was John Oliver or Daily Show, but I think Oliver did a show on it this year.
Like a bottle of shampoo might be a dollars vs $3, but the one that’s a dollar has 1/4 of the shampoo.
The more you shop at dollar stores, the more money you waste.
The more you shop at dollar stores, the more money you waste.
And the more waste goes to the garbage… This is why the earth is on fire
Companies don’t seem to understand that when employees are underpaid they aren’t able to do as much customer spending.
For all his faults, Henry Ford understood that. If your employees can’t afford your product, you aren’t going to succeed.
“Blaming” is editorializing.
“While we believe the softer sales trends are partially attributable to a core customer who feels financially constrained, we know the importance of controlling what we can control,” said CEO Todd Vasos in a statement.
We are selling less in part because our customers have less money is not “blaming the customer.” It’s describing the situation.
“We salt the earth everywhere that we set down roots. I don’t get why things won’t grow!”
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