In the neighborhoods and rural areas where dollar retailers are most popular, they offer affordable groceries to those with tight budgets, packed schedules, and limited mobility. So if not those surface-level concerns, what’s really driving dollar-store bans? Could it be a simple lack of empathy?
With backward economic thinking, CNN claimed dollar stores “limit poor communities’ access to healthy food,” blaming low-cost retailers for the gaps they try to fill.īans on walkable, ultra-affordable stores do nothing to increase the availability of fresh food they merely stamp out the only existing option.
One is reminded of the Woody Allen line complaining about a restaurant’s “terrible food…and such small portions!”Ī Tulsa councilwoman begrudgingly confirmed that dollar retailers offer essentials like toothpaste and school supplies, bread and eggs, in areas where supermarkets “ have consistently failed.” Why this is condemnable, rather than laudable, she does not explain. Haters complain retail jobs offered by dollar stores are “ low quality and low-wage” but also that dollar stores don’t create enough of these low-quality, undesirable jobs. You’ll also hear critics claim dollar stores engage in “predatory” behavior by offering prices that are simultaneously too low (undercutting potential competitors) and also too high (as compared to a per-unit cost at the Costco 15 miles away.) But dollar stores’ explicit attempts to reverse this trend – to set up affordable retail options in poorer, underserved neighborhoods – are somehow also the target of scorn. Opponents of dollar stores often contradict each other or even themselves.Ĭritics objected when suburban growth sent stores running for whiter, more affluent suburbs. Now, politicians and middle-class activists seek to ban sources of $1 bread with an unspoken, “Let them eat Whole Foods.” “Terrible food…and such small portions!” According to legend, Marie Antoinette, queen of France, when told that her subjects were going hungry for want of bread, responded blithely, “Let them eat cake.” Relatively wealthy dollar store detractors exhibit the obliviousness of an out-of-touch aristocracy. People who can afford more choices – driving out to a big-box store, buying in bulk, ordering online, patronizing a farmer’s market – simply can’t see the perspective of someone for whom the dollar store is the most practical option. Sixty-two percent of adults surveyed by brand intelligence firm Morning Consult say Dollar Tree “ has a positive effect on my community” (compared to 51 percent for Starbucks and 59 percent for Target.) It’s a place where almost anyone on any budget can splurge a little on treating themselves. In a compact space, dollar stores stock household staples like toothpaste, toilet paper, soap, and pet supplies at rock-bottom prices. Only Dollar Tree still prices all its goods at $1, but Family Dollar and Dollar General might have 10,000 products for that price, and reasonable deals on $2-$10 goods. If you drive, there’s a dollar store on your way to just about anywhere. If you don’t have a car or access to public transit, there’s probably one within five miles of your house. The most frequent customers are seniors on fixed incomes, cash-strapped students, and busy parents. The people who actually shop at dollar stores love them.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mesquite, Texas, Dekalb County, Georgia, New Orleans, Louisiana, and other municipalities nationwide are trying to limit the number of dollar stores that can serve their population. These are the battle lines of the emerging movement against dollar stores. Should city governments dictate where you can shop for food? If your neighbors see a need for a store, and happily patronize it, should outsiders shut down that option?
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