How Dollar Stores Conquered America - Cheddar Explains 

"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor." --James Baldwin

"more people grocery shop at dollar stores than whole foods" not saying much when I don't know anyone who shops at Whole Foods

But as a former store manager, it’s the worst place to work for! I got a salary of 50k and I was fine with that. But after 5 weeks of training, when I got my own store, reality hit. I was always understaffed and wasn’t approved to hire additional employees. Also, I was expected to work at least 65-70 hours a week, doing most of the stocking. I routinely was there 6-7 days a week. Keep in mind since everything cost a dollar, when the truck came , there would be over 1000 cases of product to stock once or twice a week! %90 of my time was spent stocking while I’d have a couple employees to run checkout. And the employees I had were always terrible because I could only pay minimum wage. Dollar tree is a terrible company that expects you to live at the store and neglect your family. Trust me , it’s a soul sucking company that even treats store managers like slaves. Don’t EVER work there unless you want a salary that seems good , until you see how many hours you have to work. Break down your pay by hour if you make 50K and you are working for peanuts! After 70 hour weeks, it broke down to $13 a hour!!! You can start at an amazon warehouse as a kid and make $15 an hour with zero experience! And with 15 years of management experience , for me this was a joke! A total scam! I quit after 2 months having my own store! Found a different store manager job at $50k and I work a normal 40 hours a week! And I’m properly staffed and I can pay employees more than minimum wage, so I can get quality people that won’t quit in a few months! Dollar tree is all about stock prices and investors! Nothing else.

As a poor person, the secret to being a smart and healthy shopper is to use grocery stores for select foods and produce and use dollar stores for everything else. There are definitely things you can get for cheaper at a dollar store vs a grocery store. But, any foods you buy in a dollar store will be loaded with sugar and carbs. If you are only eating dollar store food, you don't have a balanced diet.

I respect Dollar Tree for having at least having everything a dollar

Of course they target low-income neighborhoods. For someone living paycheck to paycheck, they need to buy in smaller amounts. It's expensive to be poor.

"Dollar Stores are most common in low-income areas" * Suprised pikachu face *

I hate how the interviewee says "they target low income neighbourhoods, and neighbourhoods of colour". Why TF would they target a wealthy sAsian neighbourhood? Those people are rich, they'll just go to Costco to stock up. They do target poor white/black/mixed race/whatever neighbourhoods, because poor people can't afford to buy 20L if washing detergent. There are plenty of dollar stores in poor sAsian 'hoods around me. And almost none in the wealthy sAsian areas. It's expensive to be poor.

I lived in a small depressed town in Western PA that ticked all the points on the list: Walmart comes in on edge of town, too far to walk, which killed the local grocery store that was in the heart of town, easily walkable. Dollar General comes in and builds a location right by the old grocery store/now farm goods store. You could feel the relief that people had that they again had a place they could just run to for quick stops without making the drive to Walmart. Is their pricing structure predatory? 100% should they provide fresh fruits and veggies? 150% should we ban them outright? 🤷🏻‍♂️

The dollar stores fulfill a need. Take them away and where will people on a budget go?

There's a channel called TheWolfePit which makes videos about cooking good meals with dollar store ingredients and also talks about the unfairness of dollar store quantities (4 oz of chicken for a dollar, or 12 oz for 2 dollars, but some can't afford that extra dollar so they get trapped)

I think another important factor is that while it is higher cost per measurable unit, some folks can't afford the upfront cost of something that's a better deal in the long-term. You afford what you cam when you can.

It's more expensive to be poor, unless you are poor enough to have government to take care of you.

I'm not entirely sure what to think about this. It seems like everyone, including the dollar stores themselves, agrees that they aren't a suitable replacement for actual grocery stores. But limiting the spread of dollar stores won't necessarily bring more grocery stores to these neighborhoods. I'd love to see Cheddar do a video taking a broader look at policy proposals to address food deserts / retail redlining.

I don’t get Dollar General...nothing is a dollar! At least at Dollar Tree everything is a dollar

I love my local Dollar store, evidently Cheddar has never been to one, mine does sell necessary groceries. You can get in and out quickly instead of walking all the way to the back of a huge big box store then wait in a long check out line just to buy a gallon of milk.

I love how that protest at 9:22 was all clearly upper middle class white people who are wearing L.L. Bean gear. Great job, Cheddar...

• Of course it makes sense that dollarstores would be built at a higher density in poor areas than in rich ones. Duh. ¬_¬ • How would poor communities be better off without dollarstores, how would they fare better if they were replaced with expensive grocery stores (or car lots or whatever else ends up in that space)? 🤨 No, blocking a dollarstore from opening won't result in a cheap grocery store opening there instead, it'll be a regular or expensive grocery store or something else. • Nobody sells steaks for $1. 🙄 • BTW, dollarstores are like other stores, some items are terrible deals and some are great deals; it's up to the customer to figure out which is which, so if the detergent can only do six loads (6‽ 🤨), then don't get that, get the 730g tin of Max1.5 coffee for $2.5 and get the 96-load Sunlight detergent for $6 elsewhere. Duh. Sure, it's more convenient to make only one stop, especially if you have to take public-transportation, but that's why you have to plan your trips to maximize time and money. Until you get rich and can afford the luxury of wasting time and money, you'll just have to make it work like plenty of people do. • The bit about grocery stores being unable to get capital to open in poor neighborhoods is the most salient part of this video. (Another factor is that capitalism inherently rewards greed, hence why so many stores have absurdly high marked-up prices. 😒)

I live in a village of 1200 people. The closet grocery store is 20 miles away and the closest walmart is almost 50 miles away. The only two businesses are a local gas station (which does really well) and Dollar General. Dollar General is serving my comments that no other business would even consider. Im pretty glad i have one so close

Back in 2004, I drove truck out of the Fulton, MO Dollar General Distribution Center. I went to way more small towns in AR, IL, IN, IA, KS, MO, and OK, than I did to big cities. Towns like Ulysses, KS had a DG. I also remember hearing that DG wanted to put a store in every town with at least 400 people. I had no issue delivering to DG stores. I did have issues with Werner. They’re a horrible company. They kept giving me out of route miles to get home.

My family members who live in the south like dollar stores, because they don't want to have to go to a giant supermarket and feel overwhelmed.

Trader Joes is to Dollar stores what Target is to Walmart- similar price point but you can shop there and keep your pride.

The fact that they sell less amounts of the products to keep them $1 is both totally expected and good. The benefit of a dollar store for a low income person is that they can go get 10 items they need for $10. They can't afford to go to Costco and get $300 worth of goods for $250. If they walk into Costco with $10, they may save money in the long run, but they will not be able to leave with many individual items. Edit: This isn't even considering they most certainly don't have a Costco membership.

As a former Assistant Manager for Dollar General at 3 different stores, I can safely say: people may not like the the idea of dollar stores but, when the surrounding area is poverty or extremely rural, people vote with their wallet. Not blaming them because, who'd want to drive 30 miles to a decent grocery store? I read My Father's Business while I worked there and it's another walmart scenario where the end-result, (not of the son but rather, then grandson) changed how big these stores became. However, (mom-and-pop shops aside because they're still necessary), dollar stores have necessary and unnecessary items that are affordable for the town and it's a double-edged sword. My bosses were actually people who'd left Target, a former Boscov's manager, Kirkland's DM and several Wal-Mart DM's. It's about the growth and profit and minimizing the payroll but, still trying to care. I was extremely forunate to be a part of a DG experience where the staff and community ACTUALLY cared. All were clean, organized and made it a fun experience to shop.

"more people shop at the local store on every corner than a niche expensive supermarket for people who look for labels like 'gluten free'"

I'll take a wild guess: Extreme poverty and wealth inequality.

0:00 “Hmm this could be an interesting video” 0:50 Yeah never mind it’s one of those videos

I live in a town with a population of around 2500. We just had a Dollar General store built here that's set to open in a couple of weeks. Almost exactly 1 year ago we got a Family Dollar store. There are 2 more Dollar General stores that are less than 10 miles away in neighboring small towns. These seem to be the markets they're going for. Towns with a large enough population to have a sustainable customer base, but too small for places like Walmart or Target to be interested in. I just hope that having these stores isn't going to hurt our small local businesses. We have a nice supermarket, hardware store, Mexican grocery store, meat locker, and cheese store. They're all owned by local individuals who rely on their business for their income. I'd hate to see them struggle due to an oversaturation of crappy dollar stores.

I would say that $10 doesn't get you very much, even at Dollar General or other dollar stores.

You get less bang for your buck in dollar stores that's how these stores are successful

Dollar Tree is so enticing because You might go in there for one item and then after looking around the store, you can easily spend $10! Happened to me lots of times!

I made a video about this in seattle. If you live by one of these stores it's definitely not a good area to live

I want to open up a two dollar store called "TooTwo". Simply because I want people to say "I'm going to TooTwo". We would also sell tutus so people could say "I'm going to TooTwo to buy two TooTwo tutus" too.

99 Cent Stores has great fresh produce & good security. I'm on SSI & live in the Los Angeles area which is v expensive so Thank Gawd for them.!

I shop at a small chain discount store, 99cent store. They have a large produce section, sell a greater variety of dry food than any other dollar store I have been in and have a freezer/fridge section. Plus they sell wine.

‘Wow’ Everyone after watching Cheddar

When they started in the 30s a dollar was like 20 bucks. Imagine what a dollar could buy then!

Dollar General really has expanded in recent years. They specifically target (among other things too ofc) very rural towns, where a Walmart or other large chain is at least a 20 minute or more drive. Looking at a map, so many little towns these days seem to have a Dollar General. They have the funds to build a building and supply, and distribution network. And due to size and quantities, are able to reduce their supply cost and easily purchase property and build a new location. They effectively kill the locally owned little stores in these tiny towns, thus becoming a monopoly. They seem to thrive in these little towns. I'm no expert though, just what I have noticed when visiting family across the country in the past 5 years or so. I really do feel this small town strategy is one of the keys to their rapid growth lately.

I have notice a rise in the number of Dollar General's in my area. There are about 22 stores in my county alone.

When you are broke....these stores are a gift! I won't stop shopping there!

Can someone tell where those strange off brand 99 cent stores came from

Based off the comments on this video, I think we can all agree that dollar stores are essential in poorer communities, but in reality they sell stuff that costs more in the long run.

I think a lot of people criticizing dollar tree have never been in a dollar tree. They have a good selection of frozen fruit and vegetables. They also have all the basics like fresh eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. They also have tuna fish, dried potatoes, dried beans, and fresh bread. If you shop carefully you can have nutritious meals for around $3 per day per person.

I guess this explains why walking into these stores fills you with an unexpected sense of despair

The tone-deafness of some of the statements in this video. “More people shop at dollar stores than Whole Foods.” (Yeah let me just drive 170 miles to my nearest Whole Foods) “Target low income neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color.” (Yeah ok thats why I see dollar stores in all the wealthy asian neighborhoods in Huston and wealthy black neighborhoods in Atlanta. Sarcastic obviously) And the crime thing? Wow stores common in bad areas have more robberies than stores in good areas? Amazing. Where I live there are many many small towns that had NO alternative before a dollar store came in. Yeah they have issues and I’m not a huge fan but Dollar General has served me well many times, as I would have had no alternative. Also maybe actually talk to one black person while you go on about redlining and urban poverty.

Kinda funny how the only people who complain about dollar stores are the people who can afford to go elsewhere

Some grocery stores have pricing policies aimed to get higher profits in marginal markets. Big cities have stores in downtown areas where basic foods are overpriced to take advantage of the location of the store.

One problem is shopping is a hobby in this country. I’m not a minimalist but most people have more stuff than they need. Instead of buying $5 of crap buy one good thing you need.

I literally just went to Dollar General to pick up a few thinks because I’m college student living on a budget.

We live in a nice rural area and have 2 dollar generals in 5 miles. Everyone I know loves them. We don't have to drive 25 miles round trip for milk or ketchup or motor oil or pay convenience store prices. ❤️❤️❤️ Your "targeting" is also called marketing and good business practices. These stores are the best of both worlds, price + convenience.

While I respect most of the information provided in this video; there’s a huge gaping hole left in it: “99 Cent Everything” is a brand owned by Momentum Brands of Commerce, CA. By per capita communities, they serve many more people with a variety of fresh produce, dairy, eggs, fresh fruit, frozen food as well as all the other dollar store stuff.. and the Goya. They have locations all over the PNW and into the Southwest. I agree that the other brands perpetuate poverty, but I really think Cheddar should investigate the brand and do a follow-up. Additionally, I want to add that the parent company is a major supplier of dollar store merchandise to the entire industry... I learned that while googling them.

I live in the middle of no where Pennsylvania. It was big news when the next town got a grocery store. There are three Dollar Generals and a Dollar Tree all on the same road within 10 minutes of each other. Dollar General has been popping up everywhere seemingly over night

Blaming dollar stores for Inequality. Why am I surprised by Cheddar to twist their story this way? Always someone else's fault for others problems. That's the bizarro world we live in.

The person who did the background music and audio edits did a great job on this one. I kinda want a track of it

I just took a lead sales associate position in dollar general last week. During the corona virus shit and other drama apparently sales have gone up 30 percent. It's perfectly positioned near a college area. In which I am a college student about to move into a student housing complex half a mile away. My store is about 1/3 empty all the time even after getting a truck in.

I actually think the first thing to do to get out of poverty is to cut living costs and invest the difference, so i love the dollar stores

It’s bang when there near the movie theater so you can by a drink, chips and candy under 5$ rather then buying the expensive ass popcorn and drink for like 10$ if your not that wealthy

Just be grateful that there’s even a DT,DG & FD during this pandemic damn

I just discovered that a nearby dollar store has the same item I'm buying anyway for less than half the price. That is after adjusting for package size.

The main Reason I Like Dollar Stores & My Family likes them so much; Is solely BECAUSE of the Low Price tags! If there's a Place we can get as Low a Price as We can get for the things we need; We'll shop there!!

“Next week on Cheddar: Why traffic lights are actually racist. Also something something inequality”

"Nobody's building grocery stores in our communities and almost nobody's hiring. What do we do?" "Let's prevent dollar stores from building stores and hiring people."

Here in Canada we got a dollar store called DOLLARAMA, but 90% or more is over 1$. Only chocolate bars keep below the dollar.

3:44 That dollar tree is in my town! I’ve been there many times before.

They somehow brought the "wage gap" into this video about dollar stores. Orange man bad

"They target ... neighborhoods of colour..." Any poor person could tell you that being poor isn't an issue of skin colour. It's an issue of bad circumstances, bad habits, or a combination of the two. Any adult who happens to be poor can make steps to becoming a higher member of society, even if it's an uphill battle. Give up drugs, give up TV, et cetera.

B.S. i live in a very small town in the Arizona desert...65 miles to the nearest grocery store. In the past 6 years we got two dollar stores, everyone who lives here is glad the dollar stores are here

People shop at dollar stores because it is what they can afford, not because they got tricked over portion size. To think a well stocked grocery store is being chased away by 'agressive' dollar stores with limited selection is to pretend poverty is not a real thing.

Cheddar: Banks don't invest in these areas because of RACISM!!! Also Cheddar: Dollar stores in these areas get robbed and their employees get murdered lol

there's hardly any dollar generals in my state that I've seen, however dollar tree us EVERYWHERE here in Oregon

Family dollar: discounts Dollar general: discounts Dollar tree: actually has stuff for a dollar

I shop at dollar tree because there are some remarkable decent products. The totally awesome dish detergent is great for the price, they have some good snack foods love the Italian ice, old style twinkies, but I can't imagine shopping there as my primary food destination. It would be an awesome solution if they held weekly farmers markets with unsellable "ugly" but still edible produce for $1.

I love Dollar Tree more than Dollar General or Family Dolar. Cause in Dollar Tree things do only cost $1 unlike the other stores; I only got to Dollar Tree to get some essential things but I grocery shop at Kroger. I like there deal at Kroger.

"But, you can get steak for a dollar" Is this confirmed?

The dollar tree down my road is kinda saving my life right now. I lost my job due to covid and now I can't get unemployment, and I can't get a job because nothing is open, so for the moment those little $1 "steaks" and such, are keeping me alive under $20 a week.

I grew up poor and now that I have money it was hard for me to listen to this video I was very conflicted but 9 minutes and 10 seconds into it I realized that they are right. Just because I'm not paying the price doesn't mean that somebody else isn't and that is the truth about everything that we buy

Wait so you're telling me that you get less product when you pay $1, the problem is not the dollar store the problem is that people are stupid.

damn l want dollar store in my country

I live in an upper middle class Silicon Valley community. The Dollar Tree is often crowded with multiple checkout lanes going. These places may have a general interest actually as far as I can tell and aren't just for poor people. Reading glasses for $1 instead of $12 for instance. Can't pass that up even though I can afford to. As well, a poor person can get their readers for just $1 instead of $12, which is not a bad thing.

Dollar General strategically places its stores as close as possible to public low income housing. It's brilliant.

The race card is always dropped in american videos these days

Dollar Stores took over for 2 rock solid reasons: * They actually bothered to open stores in underserved markets. * They acknowledged that poor people are the majority in this country now and priced as such.

Also a add in Note. Both companies have been targeting small towns with out any grocery stores or competition. Well think about this.. when you’re in the middle of nowhere like small town North Dakota. Would you rather go to Family Dollar and get a banquet dinner for like $1.50 or go to the local grocery store and buy that same exact product for $5? When you’re in the middle of nowhere prices are a lot more expensive because they know you’re not going anywhere else but then. Having one of these dollar stores defeats the purpose to monopolize the smaller towns. Who’s the hero? I feel the dollar store is.

I just moved back from Spain, there were three major grocery stores within a 10 min walking distance, two were smaller sized, one was a decent medium stock up size, I frequented them regularly but I also had a small dollar like store 3 mins away that was good for things that I needed in a pinch products were cheaper cause they usually came from outside of Spain in bulk but was also sometimes a bit more if you think of product size. I don’t like how dollar stores in the United States are though.

I don’t see how Dollar stores are a problem? Like, why is cheap stuff a problem? It’s not their fault that poor people exist...

journalists who never produced anything in their lives whine about a store providing affordable options for poor people

these people sometimes don't look at different perspectives, like as a college student who is severely struggling, sure fresh foods would be great and we'd actually support local businesses but when student barely has any money to spare, that makes dollar stores their only savior.

I started working at Family Dollar straight out of high school 7 years ago to afford a license and car so I could go to college. It was a mile from my house so I could walk there. I ended up staying there for 3 years and the work environment was absolutely horrendous. Not enough labor given and managers were given salary but also HAD to work a minimum of 52 hours a week. If you've worked there for any extended amount of time odds are you have gotten a check in the mail from a civil case for just the horrible conditions. That was really the only option for me besides CVS or a pizza place. I'm not surprised by any of the facts in this video. Absolute vultures.

This was very interesting until it became about race 🙄

What a load of drek, by calling for a limit on dollar stores you're asking for price controls. Price controls cause shortages, how would this help low income people? It is not the job of a store to address whatever "deeper problems" you think exist.

I live in Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, NY and there's a Family Dollar four blocks away from my apartment. This place is ESSENTIAL to my neighborhood!!

What about rural America? Not one word about how power concentrated in big cities has devastated this segment of our nation. Companies like Dollar General are one of the few large companies to show any interest in rural people.

Hi!

Don't be first and early, wait 20 minutes for the comments to appear.

Im not poor and I regularly shop at Dollar Tree ,. Lots of useful stuff if you know how to shop. I dont see any "targeting" or "Redlining " going on. I like the cleaning supplies, shampoo, school supplies, batteries, small kitchen items, seeds and bulbs, cheap but sturdy garden tools, greeting cards, food items , spices ets, etc. Convenient, quick, cheap ... no rip off,........ it is what it is ........ rather have a Dollar store in my neighborhood than a liquor store or McDonalds.

Well, both Walmart and Kmart started off as dollar stores. Or as they were known back then as a five and dime.

More dollar stores than McDonald’s? Wow that’s insane

In other words, everything changed when the Dollar Store Nation attacked

Why does the ILSR study that you reference for your video only seem to focus on Tulsa, Ok?

Some of the items in dollar stores are actually more expensive than the items sold in regular stores. So, in fact, the clever consumer people are the ones who are shopping wisely. Those who regularly shop only at dollar stores earn their reason for being poor. Yes, there is a reason why some people get richer and the poor people get filthy poor.