Posted on 12/29/2018 6:41:14 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
It has become an increasingly common story: A dollar store opens up in an economically depressed area with scarce healthy and affordable food options, sometimes with the help of local tax incentives. It advertises hard-to-beat low prices but it offers little in terms of fresh produce and nutritious items—further trapping residents in a cycle of poverty and ill-health.
A recent research brief by the Institute of Local Self Reliance (ILSR), a nonprofit supporting local economies, sheds light on the massive growth of this budget enterprise. Since 2001, outlets of Dollar General and Dollar Tree (which bought Family Dollar in 2015) have grown from 20,000 to 30,000 in number. Though these “small-box” retailers carry only a limited stock of prepared foods, they’re now feeding more people than grocery chains like Whole Foods, which has around 400-plus outlets in the country.
In fact, the number of dollar-store outlets nationwide exceeds that of Walmart and McDonalds put together — and they’re still growing at a breakneck pace. That, ILSR says, is bad news.
“While dollar stores sometimes fill a need in cash-strapped communities, growing evidence suggests these stores are not merely a byproduct of economic distress,” the authors of the brief write. “They’re a cause of it.”
Dollar stores have succeeded in part by capitalizing on a series of powerful economic and social forces — white flight, the recent recession, the so-called “retail apocalypse” — all of which have opened up gaping holes in food access. But while dollar store might not be causing these inequalities per se, they appear to be perpetuating them. The savings they claim to offer shoppers in the communities they move to makes them, in some ways, a little poorer.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
The steep drop off of extreme poverty after 1950 is remarkable.
The old exhortation to “finish your plate, don’t you know they’re starving in India/China/Africa” is obsolete ... but still true for North Korea, and anywhere Socialists have run things into the ground (Venezuela), or where Islamists want to ruin things (some Christian areas in Africa).
At least they haven’t blamed President trump yet.
“Those stores are like roaches... that’s the ONLY store you would see for miles.”
I never considered these store from the perspective of this article. I’ve seen them as convenient little stores where there may not be other options. Mom does minimal shopping at Dollar General instead of driving a half hour to a regular store.
I travel twice a week to and from a nearby town over a back road, and I pass a DG. If I need a quick bottle of milk, some aspirin, greeting card, or such I make a quick stop instead of adding 15 more minutes to my trip. I don’t see minorities or low income people there as a rule.
I guess there are different perspectives on many things. Let people shop where they want to, and where it’s convenient. If merchants have found a way to make a profit in a capitalist society, let ‘em. It’s not crack cocaine.
I think video game/smart phone addiction is maybe a big part of why violent crime is way down. It seemed to drop with the rise of electronic entertainment. When you are obese and addicted to electronic media it’s hard to get off the couch much less get up to mischief.
Freegards
People need other things besides food.
Dollar stores provide them.
Is it possible that your wife is economizing so you can afford the $100 shoes and $80 pants? I’ve done that for my family all my life, and I don’t feel that it’s a sacrifice.
“A muffin ceases to be such when it approaches the size of a softball.”
Now you’re steppin on my giant muffins! That’s uh hangin offence. Only thang I eat for mu breakfist.
Sounds like command economy crap to me.
“Here’s what *we* think you should be selling. You’re not selling it. So you should be shut down!”.
You use one item, a car, and make an assertion about relative prices. Cars have changed and regulation concerning cars have changed, so direct comparisons are difficult.
For comparison I looked up the starting MSRP for a Corolla in 1994, and 2017, and the median hourly wage.
Wages:
1994: $8.01
2017: $14.63
Basic MSRP for a Corolla:
1994: $12,098
2017: $19,400
Hours the median hourly earner had to work to purchase a base level Corolla:
1994: 1510
2017: 1326
This is admittedly an imperfect comparison, but most intellectually honest evaluations show that economically things are damn good and getting better.
That is how our tiny town got a Dollar General several years ago. The one grocery store closed and sits empty and the round trip to shop is 50 miles for us, or 100 miles if we drive to a larger town. Since the Dollar General opened I have had no need to stop there but it always has customers when we pass by. Another DG opened last year in the opposite direction and also seems to have customers when we go by. This is a rural area and it is useful to have close access to even a semi grocery store.
Clever entrepreneurs in bad neighborhoods already thought of that idea. I read an article about neighbors of a convenience store in Philadelphia complaining that the owners had a walk up window for late night shopping. It was unsafe to open the store, but you could buy milk, beer, soda, cigarettes, etc. through the window by asking for what you wanted.
The customers said it was great to have a store open late, the neighbors didn't like the foot traffic and noise late at night.
People buy what they want to buy. In cities where neighborhoods have a mix of people with different levels of economic resources in close proximity, some people choose the organic produce at the food coop, and others buy the Kraft mac and cheese at the corner store. I've watched the poor people walk past the inexpensive "healthy" food store to get to the urban chain supermarket so they could get what they wanted.
It is typical condescending liberal thinking to assume that poor people don't eat trendy, supposedly healthy food based on the latest fad because of some weakness in capitalism. In many cases they don't eat that kind of food because they prefer other kinds of food. Just like many wealthy, white people would rather eat barbecue or burgers instead of fancy organic gluten free quinoa bowls with arugula. That is one reason many top end restaurant menus include traditional dishes like hamburgers, gussied up for their wealthy customers.
Is that why there are so many dollar store are in Beverly hills and Bentwood because they’re so poor?
We had a struggling shopping center near our neighborhood.
Three stores moved into the area that used to have a large grocery store - a Dollar Tree, a Goodwill, and a Food Co-op.
The food Co-op offered locally grown produce at a good price.
A year later the co-op is gone, but the Dollar Tree and Goodwill are thriving.
I truly think that a certain segment of our population just rejects healthy alternatives.
From a taste standpoint, conventional produce tastes the same as the organic equivalent. Ditto for pastured poultry vs. conventional. The primary benefit of organic items is the avoidance of pesticide residue, or in the case of packaged foods, food additives or enhancements like monosodium glutamate. The person with marginal income simply cannot afford the long term perspective. If you eat the wrong type of food, even if you eat organic, you can develop health problems. Vegetarians struggle with problems related to not receiving the nutritional benefits of meat and fish, as an example.
One would think that this would be an opportunity for a young man with a car, van or pickup. Take orders for fresh veggies from a dozen people in the neighborhood, go shopping, bring back stuff, get paid for the effort.
But this assumes people who care.
In the neighborhoods in question, the local folk rip off legitimate grocery stores left and right. Their already slim margins can’t handle this so they close.
A large chain grocery store in Savannah, Georgia USA closed for the same reason.
“Most Dollar stores are a rip off if you factor in the cost per item/oz/serving/etc...”
or you realize that knockoff cleaning products (and such) with labels that LOOK like name brand products are mostly just plain water with very little active ingredients ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.