Posted on 07/28/2014 6:19:46 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement
The battle for America's poorest consumers intensified Monday with Dollar Tree Inc. agreement to buy rival Family Dollar Stores Inc. for about $8.5 billion.
The chains thrived during the recession as the number of working Americans living in poverty increased by nearly 40%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The stores appealed to cash-strapped shoppers with bargain-basement prices and locations that were closer to their homes than many Wal-Mart supercenters. The smaller package sizes of everyday items like laundry detergent and cereal fit into the budgets of consumers living paycheck to paycheck.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Interesting.
That’s “stackmeup.com”—and a clever idea for a site.
That is true, you really do have to look at what you are purchasing, but much to my surprise I’ve found many American made goods at that store.
Last summer I got a big chuckle as I purchased a few birthday trinket toys, squirt guns actually, to round out a birthday gift for my nephew. So what was the first toy to played with on a hot summer day in August? You got it. It was the squirt guns as everyone from child to adult got into having some great fun.
And as some noted further up thread, I’m not in the poorest of Americans...but have struggled the past few years. It just struck me as funny at times to fine REAL soap, tuna, real juice, shelf stable milk, snacks and even coffee for $1.
I have even used them to create candy gift introduction/network items for my business. Being able to do basically 5 network items per week for under $10 has been a blessing!
This is true.
And, over time, the second way will tend to lead to the first way.
LOL! those are the ones that WILL NOT MELT when put on a burger on the grill! LOL if at all possible i stay away from ‘cheap’ cheese, and my wife jumps on my case if i buy it!
Mike
exactly! and i notice they always buy NAME brand, why on earth would you give twice the money for same said product? i know i know because they are NOT paying for it right? but still they could get twice as much stuff! i don’t get it! i know some products are not the same if you buy the cheapo brand, but most are very comparable, especially in the otc meds dept.
Mike
I live close to a newish Dollar General store; they seem chronically understaffed at “peak times”, so you can wait on line for a while. Doesn’t help that the workers aren’t too bright, though to their credit they all seem to be required to do every job there (cashiers also stock shelves, unlike larger supermarkets). These places really operate on skeleton crews.
Idiots....
Sounds like you were brought up the same way I was.My Dad was a child of the Depression...he was the youngest of 8 kids brought up in the filthiest slums of Boston.He taught me,both by word and by deed,to always live below your means.For example...for his entire life,even when he had become comfortable and successful,he wore a Timex watch and drove Oldsmobiles when he could have afforded *much* better.
And I,too,live beneath my means.
I shop at dollar stores too.
Why should I pay $2.98 for hand sanitizer that I can pay .99 cents for? I try to only buy things that I would normally buy ... and, it’s fun!
“That’s “stackmeup.com”—and a clever idea for a site.”
Yes you are correct. It is stackmeup. It’s funny because to get in the top 10% is easy, the next 1% is much harder...
Very hard to find in most stores and I hate orange cheese period. BLAH
“For example...for his entire life,even when he had become comfortable and successful,he wore a Timex watch and drove Oldsmobiles when he could have afforded *much* better.”
Yea... in my 68 years I’ve purchased 2 new cars. The first when I got out of the navy and was single. The second I bought for my spouse in ‘95. But then, I had a company car most of my career.
What, 10 times are hard?
;-)
I think those people go to where they sell steak, lobster, and cigarettes.
“What, 10 times are hard?’
No, it’s not that bad... Of course the only way to look at it is by age. For me, I’d have to have 2.5 time to move 1%.
“I don’t have to get all dressed up like I’m going to Wal-Mart or something”
That’s funny right there... and scary at the same time.
I agree that is the main reason I of also. Time.
You’re correct, but that’s the majority of their customers. There are two very real issues affecting the poor.
First, our tax and regulatory system punishes labor. Don’t work and you get welfare and all kinds of benefits. Work and we clobber you with income taxes and FICA.
Then toss in healthcare costs, driven nearly entirely by government intervention in the market - FDA, state, county and local restrictions on medical innovation and competition, insurance mandates, and the nightmare of Democratcare - and the anti-commerce, anti-wealth legal environment and you have a very expensive labor market.
Second, you have illegal immigration which introduces the poorest Mexican and Latin American immigrants into America. This undermines both labor demand and natural income mobility because you have a permanent underclass with immediate access to welfare programs through government.
That’s the killer for American labor, not foreign competition or the Marxist lie that labor and capital are enemies. Illegal immigration is like counterfeiting dollars.
Tie in the fact that RE prices didn’t fall because of government intervention (note well that local governments live off of property tax revenues and cannot afford falling RE values) and you’ll see that the deck is stacked against labor all the way.
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