Re:Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
by Digory on Tuesday November 23, 2021 @08:37PM
(#29326035)
I have seen the same loss leaders at “traditional” supermarkets, but it’s also true that stores like that are disappearing from rural areas. And they’re usually losing out to a Dollar General or Dollar Tree. So even in head-to head competition, dollar stores are meeting some perceived need.
Then, in the suburbs, it seems grocery stores are trying to go up the chain by focusing on prepared foods. The cheap cafe has been replaced by bar covered in shiplap and the fruit trays run $25 after labor.
Its frequently cheaper to buy the same size package of a grocery item at a traditional grocery store than a dollar store; I've seen cases as extreme as things that regularly go 4/$1 (and occasionally go on sale at 10/$1) at regular grocery stores going for 1/$1 at a dollar store.
But if you don't have a regular grocery store in convenient distance (walking/biking distance if you don't have working car!), that doesn't matter. (Costco and similar stores present another level of problem; they tend to both be more distant for most people than even standard grocery stores and to bias toward larger package sizes—aside from whether you can afford to tie up money in the larger item even with a smaller unit cost, storage space becomes a problem.)