Dollar General, on the other hand, has smaller stores in every little burg, they're close by. Selection is much thinner but prices are just as good if not better, and it's handy.
I'd never set foot in a dollar store until 2008, now I buy most of my incidental stuff there, it's a mile away and right on my commute. I hit an actual grocery store, in my case Food Lion, once, maybe twice a month at most. Meats, produce, the things a Dollar General does not stock.
It can be sort of depressing, because the poorest of the poor do shop there, especially on Saturday with the $5.00 off coupon on a $25.00 purchase. But, it works. So, I continue to do it. There are lines at their checkout now, which is a relatively new thing.
People are having to get creative to survive in this economy. Coupons are always in my purse, just in case I need them. Still, there are foodstuffs I refuse to buy at Walmart: milk, ground beef and other fresh meats and seasonal fresh produce. Milk because the local Braum’s has a gallon of milk at $2.79/gallon, super fresh and delicious. Ground beef and other fresh meat because a Walmart employee my family knows warned us NOT to buy the meat at Walmart. Wouldn’t say why, just not to buy it. Fresh seasonal produce because it’s cheaper and better quality at an upscale grocery I drive by in the way to work. For DFW area Freepers, Central Market is a great place for in season produce.