Why Dollar Stores Are Struggling

In this video we take a deep dive into the business of dollar stores. We specifically look at Dollar General, which is the largest chain of dollar stores in the US.



#Wallstreetmillennial

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Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0
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0:00 - 1:02 Intro
1:03 - 4:18 Dollar Store Business Model
4:19 - 7:43 Stores of Convenience
7:44 - 10:48 High Prices
10:49 - 12:22 Understaffed
12:23 Recent Problems

[wallstreetmillennial]

CORRECTION: At ~8:30 I misread the Dollar General diced peaches listing. It's $3 for a 4 pack of 4 oz. bowls so the price per oz. is 18.75 cents / oz. This is 25% more expensive than Walmart, not 5 times more expensive.

[Tinfoiltomcat]

1) company starts off reasonable with a defined focus
2) they reach success
3) they switch models to one of infinite growth instead of sustainability
4) expand beyond their means
5) collapse

Many such cases

[dylansteele]

From someone that has lived in rural America for a while, the expansion that Dollar Stores have done over the past 5 years is insane!

[JohnDoryPsh]

If your dinner is wrecked by a lack of Mountain Dew, you have greater problems.

[RobinMarks]

Dollar Stores regularly overcharge you on your purchases. Double check the right price matches the sticker and register. They do it on purpose, and then say "oopsie".

[akachristdawg]

Dollar General is probably the most expensive "dollar store" I know of

[amorelus]

If Target or Walmart is 30 minutes away. It's not worth the fuel cost if you have a small quick need. If you need to shop in bulk or are large list. It makes sense to go to bigger retail stores.

When I stayed at a friend's home in a small town. That's what I noticed. Also some towns are so remote you have to drive 1 hour or more to a big name store. So if you got a dollar general that's in town, it'll save you a huge trip.

[ThootenTootinTabootin]

I live in rural America. We have a Dollar General 5 blocks from me. Then a few months ago the only Laundromat in town was bought out to put in a Family Dollar 3 blocks from me. 2 blocks from Dollar General. Now we just don't have a Laundromat.

[josephmassaro]

Dollar Store shoppers who think they are spending less aren't looking at the per ounce unit price. They are also likely to be people who think that buying dinner at McDonald's is cheaper than cooking at home. Dollar Store knows exactly who their target demographic is.

[floydchusset]

Someone said that it's time to be concerned when you start to see individuals shoplifting groceries rather than big-screen televisions, and i agree. Truth is, inflation will never reach 2% ever again, maybe in the next life, but not this one. Anyone purchasing groceries and gasoline is aware that real inflation is much over 10%; they simply lie about it like cheap blankets. In reality, interest rates would be in the 20s because of how high inflation is. But then despite the severe bear market, I am aware of certain investors that continue to earn over $365, 000. Wish I could accomplish that.

[TheBigExclusive]

The problem with Dollar store is they are no longer just $1 dollar items. And the quality of some of the items have dropped greatly...even for a dollar store.

[pancreasenthusiast]

No Mountain Dew?!? Christmas dinner is ruined!!!

[MavonEast]

I still shop at dollar stores. I just don't shop at Dollar General or Family Dollar. The stores are dirty, poorly organized, understaffed with mistreated employees and the shelf price is invariably different than the scan price.

[LaTericeallover]

The prices aren’t that bad but the stores are a mess and understaffed. I don’t go in anymore bc it always pallets of merchandise in the isle and 1 person working busy with some fool that needs help look for something. You don’t go in to the Dollar General if you want service and selection. It’s not a Macys. I feel really bad for the workers bc they run the stores the best they can but clearly have no real support or leadership.

[daveb]

DG works in rural parts of the country. However, most people who shop there only grab things to tide them over until their next trip to Wal-Mart. No one is doing major purchases at DG.

[grahamjones]

Dollar stores in general are just overflowing with crap they shouldn't even stock.
The Walmart near me has armed security guards marching around and driving massive trucks around the store .
Very different experiences.

[ninjagirl]

For rural America Dollar General is a godsend. Walmart is over 50 miles away from my sister. Dollar general is within walking distance.

[BourneJoker]

Because they're trying to save $20 an hour on labor they lose a $100 an hour in merchandise...

[matt.stevick]

DG’s blatant exploitation of its employees is horrible. I am very much a pro-capitalist, and understand that all businesses need to push their employees to get the most value, and vice versa. However the extreme to that DG leverages this is unreasonable and a consistently poor customer experience let alone the employees.

[chrisr]

Bro this is like trying to listen to a 10th grader extend an essay 2000 words by repeating the previous 400 over and over and over