Battle for Poor Shoppers Fuels Dollar-Store Deal

Wall Street Journal ^ | July 28, 2014 | By Paul Ziobro and Shelly Banjo

[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.

[ConservativeStatement]

This is from a CNN article:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/28/news/companies/dollar-tree-family-dollar/index.html

Dollar Tree plans to continue to operate both the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar brands. Dollar Tree stores sell all items for $1 or less and CEO Bob Sasser told investors Monday they will continue to do so. Family Dollar stores sells many items for more than $1 and will stay with that pricing policy as well. Dollar Tree stores are found mainly in suburban areas. Family Dollar stores are primarily in either urban or rural locations.

[Grams A]

I buy lots of stuff at Dollar Tree. If you get there early Tuesday you can even get large loaves of whole grain bread. One of ours has frozen foods - 6 waffles for $1. Noticed they are carrying more things that are labeled Made in the USA. Did check out on-line to make sure they were telling the truth. Their greeting cards are great and eliminate the expensive ones from Hallmark.

Yes, packages are somewhat smaller but at a dollar per item, allows me to have a little more variety yet stay within my grocery budget. Can’t do that at a regular grocery store.

[DJ MacWoW]

4 Weeks
29%

Support It Or Lose It

[wrench]

“I shop at the dollar store and I have a net worth in the top 10% according to stackup.com .

Well, maybe that’s why I do...”

I always heard, “Watch put after the little money and the big money takes care of itself”.

An interesting observation I have made of EBT shoppers. they refuse to buy marked down meat or scratch and dent products. Short dated meat (not expired) regularly gets marked down 50%. They walk right past and buy the same thing for 2 times the price. No problem for me, more for me to buy.

BTW, I have never seen a deer, duck, rabbit,cow, etc with a “use by” date on it.

[KC_Conspirator]

There was as time when the country looked up to the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Now business deals around dollar stores and extreme couponing. Welcome to the Obamaeconomy.

[ConservativeStatement]

Toothpaste is $1 at the Dollar Tree stores. I recently came across two coupons for Crest, each $1 off a certain size which was in stock, and got both for free. Money saved.

[deoetdoctrinae]

Yep, ya gotta dress up if you're going to Wal-Mart.

[Catsrus]

Same here - easy in, easy out and great prices on bath tissue, laundry detergent, pet foods, etc. I love Dollar General and the savings I get from shopping there.

[Mastador1]

I bought some cheese slices at a Dollar Store - got them home and realized they didn’t actually contain any dairy at all.

Wait.....................................are saying you were surprised?

[Organic Panic]

I’m in the top 5% and I love Dollar Tree. They have a very unusual selection in their food section. They carry my favorite hot sauce, “Louisiana Perfect.” People think I’m nuts for shopping there.

[familyop]

"What do those in government consider themselves?"

The "makers," "producers" and "taxpayers," as they often say in political speech.

Heavy Hitters: Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2014
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $60,949,129 [Democrat] 81% [Republican] 1%”
National Cmte to Preserve Social Security & Medicare $10,414,606 [Democrat] 82% [Republican] 17%

Leviathan (Uncle Sam employs more people than you think)
National Review ^ | 02/03/2011 | Iain Murray
"...nearly 40 million Americans employed in some way by government."

About "70 million" people are receiving good incomes but are also steeped in debt, and most of them can't borrow more for big ticket items. Meanwhile,...

More Than 101 Million Working Age Americans Do Not Have A Job
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3005481/posts

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Dollar Tree stores are great for cheap school supplies and school room decorations (wife and daughter are teachers). Family Dollar got their arse kicked by Dollar General - wonder what Dollar Tree is going to do to fix that.

[xzins]

I’ve always heard there were 2 ways to live like you’re wealthy. One is to have a lot of money. The other is to have extremely low expenses.

[dragnet2]

And all that means what?

[PGR88]

Wait.....................................are saying you were surprised?

YES! I had no idea the technology was out there to make orange-colored, individually wrapped, rubbery, fake cheese slices with vegetable oil, starch and some other ingredients.

[EDINVA]

Almost everyone I know just LOVES the Dollar Tree and most are far from poor. It’s just fun to buy some things for $1, i.e., party favors, greeting cards, gift bags, etc.

[MaxMax]

"poorest consumers..." I'm not sure that is entirely accurate.

It's not accurate. I shop in those stores and could afford to pay $1.05

[Biggirl]

The old, beat-up race card has been “declined”.

[Leaning Right]

I bought some cheese slices at a Dollar Store - got them home and realized they didn’t actually contain any dairy at all.

Been there, done that. Then I realized that the key to buying food in a dollar store is to buy name brands only. The name brands are there, you just have to search a bit, and accept that there won't be much variety.

But the price will be right.

[2ndDivisionVet]

A look at how Dollar Tree, Family Dollar differ
http://www.cbs8.com/story/26130598/a-look-at-how-dollar-tree-family-dollar-differ