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Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

(www.theguardian.com)
510 points bookofjoe | 5 comments | 07 Dec 25 14:37 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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regera ◴[07 Dec 25 21:07 UTC] No.46185157[source]▶
Dollar stores are private equity with a checkout lane.

In 2025, Dollar Tree sold Family Dollar to a group of private-equity firms: Brigade Capital Management, Macellum Capital Management and Arkhouse Management Co.

https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d...

It’s a business model cosplaying as poverty relief while quietly siphoning money from the people least able to lose it. They already run on a thin-staff, high-volume model. That 23% increase is not a glitch. They know their customers can’t drive across town to complain. They know the regulators won’t scale fines to revenue.

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jmspring ◴[07 Dec 25 21:32 UTC] No.46185369[source]▶
The sad thing is, people in rural areas that depend on places like Dollar General, and are getting fleeced blame everyone but republicans and they are usually in red areas
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antonymoose ◴[07 Dec 25 21:59 UTC] No.46185612[source]▶
I’ll bite…

I live in a rural area with a Dollar General about a half mile from my neighborhood. For staples, it’s honestly fine. You want a 6 pack and some hot dog buns because you missed it in the Wal-Mart run the other day (15 miles away), it’s great!

You’re not getting fleeced and if you are, the gas savings alone more than make up for it (0.65 per mile per the IRS.)

For folks who depend on the local DG for, idk, clothes and household goods it might be much worse, I don’t shop for those there ever, but on staples it’ll do, especially given the density of stores compared to major chains.

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1. WarOnPrivacy ◴[07 Dec 25 22:36 UTC] No.46186011[source]▶
Being in a shopping rich area, I have some luxury of choosing what I get where. DG is a good option for a small list of items, about ½% of my shopping.

But it'd be awful if my best shopping option was 15mi away.

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2. antonymoose ◴[07 Dec 25 23:40 UTC] No.46186577[source]▶
Having moved from a shopping rich environment of some 30 years to a very rural setting, I was innately trained to hate on Dollar General by my 15 years on HN. In reality, it’s a trade off. Nothing more, nothing less. Whereas before you might have fallen back on a country-store with a small kitchen and minor staples (eggs, cheese, milk) next to the RedBull most folks now have a wider variety of options at a price point comparable to or better than that filling station. All the better, DG has rolled out their “Market” concept with fresh options as well.

At this point I’d love to see a conversation about price points and convenience of a Japanese conbini as compared to a Japanese supermarket on HN. Far less politicized and denigrated I would hope.

3. pwg ◴[08 Dec 25 01:15 UTC] No.46187216[source]▶
> But it'd be awful if my best shopping option was 15mi away.

In much of the rural US, 15mi away is having your good shopping close by. A lot of areas make due with their "best shopping option" being well more than 15mi away.

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4. BenjiWiebe ◴[08 Dec 25 02:46 UTC] No.46187749[source]▶
Yes 15 miles for good shopping sounds pretty nice. I'd say I've got it fairly good for being rural - only 23 miles to the nearest Walmart. That town isn't really great shopping though.
5. sejje ◴[09 Dec 25 16:23 UTC] No.46206803[source]▶
My best shopping option is about 50mi away.

It's worth it, because my only neighbor is about 1/4 mile away, and he's the most reliable person I've ever met.

I don't lock my doors, the keys are in all my trucks.

We do have thieves, who are small and furry, and make off with my figs and tomatoes.

I don't miss your shopping rich area. It's a chore I suffer through.

Anyway, DG can save me about an hour of driving vs Walmart or the normal grocery.