Sep 1st, 2020 | In the News

ARE DOLLAR STORES "KILLING AMERICA"? Local grocery stores are blaming their hard times on the proliferation of dollar stores such as Dollar Tree and Dollar General. Professor Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says to the various dollar stores, "'Shame on you. You're killing America just so you can get richer." Listen and decide if you agree!<--break->

Here's the original article that got Tom so hyped up.

"Food desert" as defined by Wikipedia.

From CBSnews.com: Dollar stores and food deserts.

From the Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionOPINION: Are dollar stores the problem or the symptom of larger issue?

What do they sell at dollar stores? Take a gander at Dollar General's website!

Do you agree about food deserts? Tell Tom how you feel: tom@blowmeuptom.com.

HOUR 1

Comments

Submitted by ras0iuf on

Great show on September 1st. It blows me away how popular these “dollar stores” are. People think they’re saving money. You’re NOT saving any money. In order to get the price down to $1, the quantity of product you get is shrunk down drastically or you’re buying their own store brand which is typically of very low quality. Either way, you’ve getting very little value for your money.
Here’s two examples: My local Dollar Tree sells a roll of Reynold’s Wrap for $1. You get 15 square feet of foil for a buck. That works out to 6.7 cents per square foot. Then I compared that to what you get the same foil for at Costco. Costco sells 500 square feet for $20.99. That’s 4.2 cents per square foot. The Dollar Store aluminum foil costs a whopping 60% more than Costco. If Costco sold the aluminum foil at Dollar Store prices, their 500 sq ft would cost over $33.50!
I also looked at paper towels. My local Dollar Tree sells a roll of Bounty for $1. You get 31.1 square feet of paper towels for a buck. That works out to 3.2 cents per square foot. Costco sells a package containing 1,026 square feet of paper towels for $19.99. That’s around 2 cents per square foot. The Dollar Store paper towels also cost 60% more than Costco. If Costco sold their paper towels at Dollar Store prices, their pack would cost $32.
How are you saving money at the Dollar Store again?? If you’re broke, the last place you should be buying essentials is at the Dollar Store.

Submitted by gokusan on

If a person chooses to eat cheap low quality nutrient less food early in their adult life, then this will probably cost them their health later on in life in the form of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure etc etc. Health is Wealth as the old saying goes. ;)

Submitted by tannydavid on

This past week I bought nacho corrugated potato chips whose product name I won't mention at a dollar store. It had an off taste. It was so bad that I crushed the rest of the bag's contents and fed them to the crows and pigeons. Wasted $2. You're better off eating snacks at Costco or somewhere else. Don't buy food from dollar stores.

Submitted by tahkwuh on

The food there isn't healthy, that's true. The reason I go to Dollar Tree and 99c Only is NOT for "food"..it's for the deals on items which are expensive in WalMart, Target, et al. Here's what I'm getting at:
Typically, when I go into one of the above department stores for socks, they charge $5 or $10 for a single pair of men's long neck crew socks. My local Dollar Tree often has a similar quality pair of socks for a buck. On some occasions, they even have a triple pack..that's 3 pairs for that dollar! I understand the uproar over unhealthy food and on some level get why some people might be inclined to blame dollar stores but that's not what I go to them for. CostCo is a great deal if you plan to buy a pallet full of socks..and I find it a pain in the ass to navigate those layouts. The approach I take works for me.. :D