ONE DOLLAR
The lowly “dollar” stores are doing very well these days,I find.
Some are regional in nature, but you probably have three or four in your area which are nation-wide in their operations.
They usually have the word “dollar” in their name and this strikes me as being an echo from the “Five-and-Ten-Cents Stores” of days long-gone. The insinuation is that all items are priced at one dollar each,but that,you find,is not exactly the case -although many items are so tagged.
I find,in talking with housewives and homemakers, that more of them than ever before are shopping at these “economy” locations. Even while the “Big Box” stores out in the Mall on the edge of town are suffering recession doldrums , several of them seriously, the small dollar stores are prospering.
Some shoppers are going to the smaller store for physical reasons. They are no longer willing to go shopping “Safari Style”with long treks to and from the far reaches of a parking lot to the far end of the Mall. They find it much better to park in front of th smaller store and,often,just a few steps from the entrance.
With careful attention to purchasing the smaller stores can and do compete with the Big Box retailers because they operate in lower rent districts and have less overhead expense.
As a member of Congress, Rep. Burr Harrison, once said years ago:“We“ he said, speaking of Americans in general,”have what might be called an almost criminal devotion to bigness! If it's big,it's good!” The small:”dollar” stores are attesting to the wisdom of that statement when they actively compete with the large discount stores which seem to be dominating the markets.
We hear the terms “bankruptcy” and Chapter Eleven” in relation to the affairs of some Big Box retailers, but the smaller stores go right on being profitable in their small way.
The smaller stores e, it seems, meeting a need expressed by shoppers as they begin to pick and choose ...looking for, and finding, real bargains, at their local “dollar” stores. There are some dis-advantages,as well. Just because you found large boxes of your favorite dry cereal at your dollar store last week as a good price, does not mean you can get the same item there a week from now. Stocks are small and they vary. This is a result of the careful purchasing which must be be done if they are to compete and prosper. Items must move in and out quickly.
A.L.M. September 30, 2002 [c423ds]
