So we have dollar stores on every corner putting other businesses out of business and paying their employees shit wages. Then the dollar stores are surprised when nobody wants to buy their cheap garbage that is overpriced? Shocker! I never shop at those dollar stores that are just AliExpress retail locations. If I want something cheap and from China I will just shop at AliExpress and wait a month and get the same quality for half the cost.
this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
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I'm okay with dollar tree but have no idea how dollar general stays in business selling 13 dollar cutting boards that are a buck twenty-five at the Tree.
Food deserts aside idk how the hell these even gain hold. They're always more expensive than anything other than gas stations and pharmacies. They're inconvenient AF with one staff person doing everything. They're almost worse for local economies than Walmart was/is... But they can kill Smaller economies.
Idk but when I lived in a big city, I was always like "why do people shop at Family Dollar?" but there were several alternatives close by in the area.
Now I live in a rural area and Family Dollars are everywhere. They're still over priced here, but the difference between the cost of their product and Walmart's product is much smaller then back in a big city. And in some places in this rural area they are a hell of a lot closer than a standard grocery store which is half an hour away. I still avoid Family Dollar whenever possible, but sometimes it makes more sense to grab one or two things there instead of going all the way into town.
John Oliver has a great piece about dollar stores (and DG specifically) that really opened my eyes. I never used to go there, but now I never will.
Is there a TLDW?
Okay, my own post needs a TL/DR 😂 so very basically: Don't give these greedy fucks your money. Anyway, here goes...
I just watched/listened to the episode again at work. I also recommend you watch the episode (he tells it better than I can), but here's my rough summary:
- The dollar store market is dominated by Dollar General and Dollar Tree (who also own Family Dollar)
- They make such obscene amounts of money because they drive out the local competition and have abysmally bad employment practices.
- They often have two—or even just one—employee stuck with all the store's duties, including stocking and manning the register. Unsurprisingly, this leads to the absolute messiest place you can imagine. There are some customers in one clip who were volunteering their time to help the one person (who was stuck at the register) stock the shelves.
- The median DG employee makes little more than $18,000 per year, and something like 92% of all their employees earn less than $15/hr.
- There are several documented cases of rat infestations in their distribution centers, and sometimes the stores themselves.
- One store had birds nesting in the ceiling and shitting on the merchandise. When employees notified corporate, they were instructed to clean the products and put them back on the shelves. To them it wasn't that big of an issue because "the birds aren't stealing anything."
- Some stores report not having any working climate control, including AC in the hotter climates. Reports of candy melting and employees sweating their asses off.
- OSHA has designated DG to be a "severe violator" and both DG and DT have racked up millions in "proposed fines" (not sure what that means) over the years.
- Since there's often only one poor soul manning the entire store, it's not surprising that criminals are attracted to these locations.
- (anecdotal) One employee got robbed and helped to secure the store after calling the cops. Their manager asked if everyone was okay, then immediately (<15 minutes later) asked what they were gonna do about re-opening the store.
- DG (and almost certainly DT/FD) practice in the typical union-busting practices you hear about with all mega corporations. Including, of course, gaslighting employees in their training videos.
- There are several cases of stores whose entire staff walk out due to, well, all of the above. They do responsibly lock the doors however. They're not just leaving them open to looting.
And that's about it as well as I could summarize. Hope it helps you stay informed about why you should never give these shitty companies your hard-earned money.