@esmerelda wrote:
@ValuSkr wrote:
It's an interesting article, thank you for posting. Yes, I've heard about the push-back against dollar stores. They do seem to proliferate in rural and low-income communities, One dollar store is nice, but too many are a scourge. However, I wonder about the ability of local governments to regulate them this way. I read recently of a midwestern town that lost its only supermarket when a dollar store opened. The supermarket was locally-owned, employed a number of people, and supported civic organizations like a Little League team. And of course, it had departments like bakery, produce, and deli that a dollar store often doesn't.
I'm not sure, but isn't Dollar General more like a supermarket? It has a weekly circular and it carries groceries and most things are not $1.00. Maybe it doesn't carry perishable items like produce, bakery, and deli.
It’s hard for me to believe a dollar store caused a grocery store to close. Since it was family owned, there may have been reasons other than economic that that happened.
There is one grocery store here...part of a national chain...and two “dollar stores” across the highway. There is another “dollar store” within a 5-minute drive of the others. No sign any are suffering.
I think t’s helpful when dollar stores are located near each other for customers who are within walking distance or who use public transportation.
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@ValuSkr @esmerelda, I did see a piece on some show that talked about the proliferation of Dollar stores and how they are impacting the small local grocery stores in many areas. They did cover several examples of how it did put local grocery stores out of business and they also profiled another owner of a grocery store in a smaller midwestern town that is struggling to survive since a Dollar store opened in the same town. They did an indepth interview with the owner of that grocery. He has had his grocery for decades and made it through all kinds of economic downturns, but says the opening of the Dollar store is causing him to have to think about closing his business. According to that report, the Dollar stores tend to concentrate on lower economic or rural areas.
I really don't have a problem with a municipality making the decision since it is a local decision that I think is probably based on specific factors for that particular area. Doesn't mean that situation is the same for every other area in the country. And we have been through this with Walmart since it led to closing of many mom and pop stores across the country.
I did find this article by Forbes that discusses the situation from different points of view. I will provide the link to it since I think it should meet standards here. But if someone else wants to read it you can google: Will Dollar Stores Be The End of Local American Retail on the Forbes website.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/12/30/will-dollar-stores-be-the-end-of-local-american-...
Hard to believe that there are more dollar stores than the 6 largest US retailers combined (Walmart, Cotsco, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger). I was a little surprised to read that.
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