Free Republic

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris repeatedly say they want to help the poor and middle classes but their policies, which caused inflation to soar, have absolutely destroyed the dollar’s purchasing power. People can no longer afford to patronize the establishments they’ve always patronized, because they are living paycheck-to-paycheck, have already depleted their savings, and have run up credit card debt to unsustainable levels—and these chains are falling like dominos. Now, Big Lots is the latest casualty, and preparing for bankruptcy: ... Dollar Tree and Dollar General are also facing significant headwinds. ... Inflation has significantly risen because of direct actions...

A disturbing video shows the moment a pervert fled a Philadelphia Dollar Tree store after committing a lewd act on another customer. The unidentified suspect could be seen sprinting out the door and running through a parking lot, as the alleged victim yells after him, 'You go to hell b****!' in a viral video shared by Internet personality Collin Rugg. She then starts crying as the suspect flees the scene. ...... They say the suspect is known to frequent the shopping plaza and the nearby I-95 underpass, where he sometimes parks his vehicle. The suspect is described as a black...

Dollar Tree has saved 170 shops that were set to be shuttered by rival 99 Cents Only after it went bankrupt.It is a boost for budget shoppers in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas - who have been mourning the loss of the popular chain.Dollar Tree announced on Wednesday that it had bought rights to the leases for the stores.At the same time, it has paid for the 99 Cents Only's 'intellectual property,' meaning it has the option to keep some stores open under the brand or even open new ones using it.West Coast-based 99 Cents Only had a cult following...

Here's a look at what's gone wrong at both chains.. These are tough times for two big US dollar store chains. In the past month, Family Dollar said it will close nearly 1,000 stores and 99 Cents Only said it will go out of business. Both companies said inflation and shoplifting have contributed to their troubles. While inflation has pressured the companies' low-income customer base and shoplifting has squeezed their profits, those factors alone can't explain their difficulties. Years of strategic mistakes and underinvestment have plagued Family Dollar and 99 Cents Only, retail analysts say. Both brands were acquired by...

Discount chain Dollar Tree has announced it will raise its price cap to $7 for some store items. During a recent fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO of Dollar Tree Rick Dreiling shared, “This year, across 3,000 stores, we expect to expand our multi-price assortment by over 300 items at price points ranging from $1.50 to $7.” Due to the ongoing inflation under the Biden administration, Dollar Tree was previously forced to raise their prices from $1 to $1.25 in 2021. The $7 price cap will be implemented in the fourth quarter, and at the beginning of June, a $5 price cap...

Dollar Tree and its subsidiary, Family Dollar, will close 1,000 stores following a net loss of $1.71 billion over three months, the discount retailer said Wednesday. The company plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year and allow about 370 Family Dollar stores and 30 Dollar Tree stores to close over the next few years at the end of their lease terms. The company opened 641 new stores, including 333 Dollar Trees and 308 Family Dollars, last fiscal year, which ended on Feb. 3, 2024.

Unemployment may be low, jobs plentiful, and consumer spending holding up. However, consumers are still struggling with the rising cost of credit card debt, housing, and automobiles—expenses that defy easy solutions. However, managing the cost of groceries and other essentials, the leading expense for half the respondents in a recent TD Bank survey, is just a click or short drive away. As consumers pull back on discretionary spending, major retailers in the grocery business are doubling down on the power of private-label brands to build traffic and loyalty. The boom is on. Amazon, which owns Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh,...

Dollar Tree can't keep up with Bidenflation, changing consumer habits, and competition from other discount retailers — and will close nearly 1,000 of its Family Dollar locations around the country. The company announced the move this week following disappointing quarterly results ... "struggling to deal with a shift in consumer spending to lower-margin essentials from higher-margin discretionary products ... Even discount items .. are now out of reach for many Americans who have shifted their buying habits to even "lower-margin essentials" like food and gas. The mainstream media keeps telling me the economy is booming, but Family Dollar can't cut...

Dollar Tree to close around 1,000 Family Dollar stores. initially announced late last year, the company will close 600 of its Family Dollar stores in the first half of 2024. An additional 370 Family Dollar stores and 30 Dollar Tree stores will close over the next several years once their leases expire, the company said in its fourth-quarter earnings report. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/dollar-tree-to-close-nearly-1k-stores

Photo courtesy of FDA Doctors need to be on the lookout for lead poisoning in children as the latest tally of kids exposed to the toxin after consuming pouches of cinnamon-flavored apple puree climbed to 22, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. In a health advisory the agency sent out to healthcare providers, officials said any provider who has such a patient should report it to local health authorities. The agency added that it is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state and local partners to investigate the link. But there are already...

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — On a hot July morning, customers at the Dollar General along a two-lane highway northwest of Nashville didn’t seem to notice signs of the chain store’s foray into mobile health care, particularly in rural America. A woman lifted a child from the back of an SUV and walked into the store. A dog barked from a black pickup truck before its owner returned with cases of soda. Another woman checked her hair in a convertible’s rearview mirror before shopping. Each went right by a sign exclaiming “Quick, Easy Health Visits,” with an image of a mobile clinic....

A nationwide crime wave is forcing many retailers, large and small, to close their doors or lock up their merchandise.One example is Nordstrom, which made an announcement in May that it's closing its flagship store in downtown San Francisco after 35 years in business.The location inside Westfield Mall said goodbye to its last customers on Aug. 27, after opening in October 1988.The store at the corner of Fifth and Market Streets once occupied five floors and spanned more than 312,000 square feet but is now closing like many other retailers because of a surge in crime and poor sales.San Francisco...

The "cost of living crisis" along with increased consumption of craft beer cited as reasons for the decline in use of French wine... Higher electricity costs like the 46 percent higher cost for electricity supplied here in York County, Pennsylvania by Metropolitan Edison this year cited by discount retailer Dollar Tree in reporting a rough quarter... Drug store chain Rite Aid hearing for bankruptcy... Tonight a Ukrainian drone destroyed when it attempted to attack Moscow... 12 killed and 80 injured in a stampede at a stadium in Madagascar... The new military government in Niger expelling ambassadors from three countries... A...

Dollar Tree is planning to lock up some of its merchandise and may discontinue the sale of certain products, as theft makes a dent in the company’s profit margins. Richard Dreiling, Dollar Tree’s CEO, said on a call with analysts Thursday that the company is introducing new measures in the second half of the year to combat “shrink,” or the loss of inventory from theft and other causes. “We are now taking a very defensive approach to shrink,” Dreiling said, noting that such inventory losses “advanced a little further than what we had anticipated.” Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, both...

Dollar Tree is known for its great prices on holiday decorations and party supplies, but as food prices continue to hit budgets hard, shoppers are turning to this discount store to get their groceries. According to Winsight, Dollar Tree’s same-store sales of consumables outpaced discretionary sales for the second straight quarter, the retailer reported, with a 9.3% comparable in food and beverage, snacks and cookies, and candy. Same-store sales of food and beverages grew by 4.7% and the chain saw overall same-store sales growth of 4.1%, Winsight noted. The company’s overall same-store sales increased by 8.6%. “We are increasing our...

This month, a TikToker went viral for her “Hood vs Hood” video series, in which the creator visits and compares dollar stores in different neighborhoods. … In the first video of Jones’s “Hood vs Hood” series, which has over 6.2 million views, the creator films herself reportedly going to a more affluent neighborhood to check out its Dollar Tree. She notes the store has items sitting outside of the store on its sidewalk, is well-stocked with name-brand snacks, and offers more obscure foods like feta cheese. “Now you know damn well in my neck of the woods, they ain’t finna...

Getting more bang for your buck used to be the mantra of dollar store shoppers everywhere, but times are changing - and prices are rising. As consumers continue to contend with escalating prices for food, clothing and other items thanks to inflation, discount retail chains like dollar stores are rethinking their pricing strategies. Dollar Tree announced last month that it will be boosting prices to $1.25 for most of its products. And now Dollar General is looking to roll out more of its Popshelf stores, where most items cost $5 or less. Dollar General said Thursday that it anticipates nearly...

The company — one of America's last remaining true dollar stores — said Tuesday it will raise prices from $1 to $1.25 on the majority of its products by the first quarter of 2022. The change is a sign of the pressures low-cost retailers face holding down prices during a period of rising inflation. Selling stuff strictly for $1 hampered Dollar Tree, the company said, and forced it stop selling some "customer favorites." Raising prices will give Dollar Tree more flexibility to reintroduce those items, expand its selection and bring new products and sizes to its stores. Dollar Tree also...

As Dollar Tree goes, so goes the country.I admit that I didn’t know what a Dollar Tree was up to a few years ago. I was visiting my parents and my mom asked me to go buy some water glasses at the Dollar Tree. After a “what’s that?” I went shopping. Everything was, in fact, a dollar. Well, no longer.Dollar Tree is raising its price. I listened to a woman complain vociferously about the planned price hike. She’s mad. So is the rest of the country. Inflation isn’t just hitting grandmas looking water glasses for a dollar, it’s going to...

Raising some prices will certainly give the national chain some flexibility and likely more variety on its shelves. But a dollar this year will not buy you what it did in 2020. Annual inflation in the U.S. reached 4.2% in July, the highest in three decades. And this week in an appearance before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that price increases have worsened amid snarled supply chains and rising labor costs. That has hit businesses of every type, perhaps especially one that has held the line at $1 for decades.