Posted on 08/21/2021 11:22:21 AM PDT by conservative98
Kyle Dishman can't afford to shop at the local grocery store anymore. Instead he goes to Dollar General, where he can make $40 stretch into a week's worth of groceries and the occasional can of motor oil for his Chrysler 300.
He sticks with pasta, frozen pizza and canned vegetables, fully aware that "any food you can buy for only $1 is not the greatest for you." But Dishman says prices have gone up so much that he's started rationing his food.
"When you only have a certain amount to spend, it's like, why not just go to the dollar store?" he said.
A growing number of Americans are relying on dollar stores for everyday needs, especially groceries, as the coronavirus pandemic drags into its 18th month. Chains such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree are reporting blockbuster sales and profits, and proliferating so quickly that some U.S. cities want to limit their growth. The 1,650 dollar stores expected to open this year represent nearly half of all new national retail openings, according to Coresight Research.
(Excerpt) Read more at stamfordadvocate.com ...
and their prices on other items are cheaper than grocery stores for the same weight and size products...
Not a great selection but I stock up on liquid dish detergent, reading glasses, makeup, etc. I splurged and bought some of their ice cream last week. Not bad! I love the Family Dollar Store - not all 1.00 but great selection for cheap stuff.
The dollar stores that I’ve visited are good for maybe books. Food? Looks like a higher price.
5 and dime!
Which benefits china.
“I remember when we had the Dime Store.”
Yep..... the old 5 and Dime. Sure doesn’t seem that long ago.
They buy from distributors, generally.
Like anything else, it depends. Some of their packaging is smaller yet the same price as a grocery store. I only buy standardized stuff from DG or WM. Things that don’t come in various sized packages depending on store. We do get our paper products from DG. Soda and the occasional Red Baron pizza. We’ll buy one or two things, get the $5 off $25 or more coupons that are good on Sat. only and then go back Saturday. Last time I went, the total was $25.25 before coupon so it was pretty close to a 20% savings.
I shop sales. Any meat I buy is either on a good sale or manager’s special with $2-3 off the price.
Upland 99cent store still has 99cent items, but many are now more than that.
There are some very good buys that include fruits and vegetables. You just have to be careful because they may be closing in on expiration date.
Someone with a very low budget can actually survive fairly well buying the food there.
If you were adding in the 628 bucks a month for a family of four in food stamps, you could shop like a potentate.
The only thing we buy at dollar stores is dog toys.
The dog never complains!
It’s tempting. I could use it to stock up for the coming hard times.
I’m wondering if there isn’t more damage done to the economy than we yet realize?
I am n the monument inscription business. Good one to be in during Covid, right? Well, y eah and no. The lockdown cost me 12000.00 in billing but I never really stopped working. Afterwards the people who’d been hiding under their beds came out and started ordering inscriptions to the extant that we were buried under orders. Then suddenly a funny thing happened: 3M, the company that makes the template material we use said that they couldn’t get people to work the shifts. Lately the word has been that I hey can’t get ahold of the ‘raw material’. They are saying April befor they are up and running. I have maybe 2 months wort before I’m shite out of luck.
If this is just one little area of one little industry- no biggie. But if this is happening in other industries…
There are a lot of “glitches” in a whole bunch of industries with various parts and supplies.
In a highly complex world economy it does not take much to mess up the markets.
That is why I am a hoarder—and proud of it. I do not trust the reliability of long supply lines for non-perishable items.
But the results are the same. Buy, mark it up, and sell it.
Stupid people let stupid people take charge of their lives.
This is going well.
Rice, dried beans, peas, lentils,, pasta etc. plus seasonings. A small amount of meat for flavoring. Not exciting, but you can do a lot of dishes with these.
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