Family Dollar CEO Offers An Ominous Insight About His Customers

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/family-dollars-ceo-comments-2014-7



Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine doesn't think his cash-strapped consumers are benefiting from economic recovery.
In fact, he thinks things are getting worse.

The company reported a slip in comparable sales today, and Levine told analysts that he isn't sure when business will improve.

"The low end consumer has not benefited in this recovery at all in fact I think (they) have slipped further back," Levine said.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/family-dollars-ceo-comments-2014-7#ixzz379ts8a7m

[malaise]

1. That's the truth

Rec

[RKP5637]

3. The cost of living here continues to go up and up, I don't care what the

economists say. Just in the grocery store, for example, prices go up each week. One now sees many people standing in the isles trying to figure out what is best for the least amount of money. The prices are just extraordinary. Then, just going into big box stores and the like I see large price increases over the past few years, it's endless and ridiculous.

[LuvNewcastle]

39. The price of fresh vegetables is enormously high.

I can get canned veggies for a lower price, and frozen ones for a bit more, but fresh veggies come at a premium. People need their veggies. Poor people already consume far too much junk food. I think we need to have subsidies for fresh fruit and vegetable farmers, especially the small farmers. Poor people would eat better quality food if they could afford it. I know I would. Considering the obesity and diabetes epidemics, it's a health crisis that needs to be addressed.

[RKP5637]

42. The cost of fruit here is absolutely outrageous. I get a little from time to time, but it's

just so expensive. Much of the population in the US is swept under the rug by MSM reporting. There are millions and millions in the US in the same boat, but IMO they are neglected because the suppliers can tweak their cost/price ignoring the bottom end and make a heavy profit by focusing on higher prices for those that are willing/can pay more. Less supply, more profit. It's all a game.

I have a friend that is a buyer for grocery chains, they say what is going on in the US is horrendous and fabricated for increased profit to feed the extraordinary greed in this county, and the gov. does little about it.

[truedelphi]

74. Nectarines are now $ 2.39 a pound, and they're grown here in California.

Of course, you will her "Drought Drought Drought" all the time.

A 89 yer old recently did a letter to the editor. He talked about how when droughts were bad in the past, that people hired a charter plane and went up with silver iodide (I think it was) and then the rain seeding almost immediately caused it to rain. Since several farmers would go in on the expenses, it was not that expensive to do.

Now we are not supposed to do that, as cancer or something might result. My question: What results when entire neighborhoods go up in flames? And before the next big fire storm hits, how do we manage without adequate amounts of healthy food?

[americannightmare]

85. This is no ordinary drought...

and it is only going to get worse...

Note that Dr. Ingram indicates that a century-long drought in the past was not as dry as this past year in California.

[truedelphi]

93. So tell me this, when I complain about what I see as the cause,

I am told I am mistaken. Totally mistaken. And that they are contrails and not what I think they are.

Well, then how come in the period of 96 to 72 hours before Christmas day, the very busiest sky travel time of the year for commercial jets, there were almost zero planes in my sky?

Almost like they want to rub our noses in it. (I live in a very rural area, and to have planes overhead on a daily basis makes me wonder.)

And BTW, one of the reasons that some of the more recent past droughts were not as bad is on account of seeding the sky!

[greiner3]

98. Sorry but I have no idea what you speak of.

[Divernan]

105. Please explain further.

What is the "they" you refer to ("they are contrails&quot and what exactly is it you refer to when you say "they are contrails and not what I think they are". That is, what do you think they are?

I'm not pulling your chain here - I'd really like to understand what you're referring to.

[americannightmare]

113. I am not here to dispute the existence of contrails...

what I will say is the powers that be won't be able to seed the clouds enough to overcome extreme drought caused by anthropogenic climate change.

[truedelphi]

114. If we were not an endless supplier of war and more war then :

Perhaps much of this this wouldn't be happening.

Take our nation's lust for endless war out of the equation, and our atmosphere would be far cleaner and far less destroyed than is currently the case. War is the greatest cause of environmental destruction. Had the money for all our military adventures instead been applied to things like solar/wind and other sources of energy, and we could be living inside a Global Paradise.

The military is the largest single source of environmental pollution in the United States.

The cost of clean-up of military related sites is estimated to be upwards of $500 billion.

The Pentagon generates five times more toxins than the five major U.S. chemical companies combined.

About one quarter of the world's jet fuel is consumed by the US armed forces.

As I type this, US backed "National Guard" troops out of Kiev are destroying cities inside the Ukraine. Israel is engaged in knocking out neighborhoods in Gaza strip. Over 25 regional conflicts are raging inside the continent of Africa. We have our own troops inside Afghanistan, and some troops are heading back to Iraq. (Should also mention the 16,000 permanent US personnel stationed inside our "embassy" there in Bagdad.)

And Scandinavian scientists have linked US aerosol programs to an annual 15% destruction of the atmosphere.

[americannightmare]

115. This all makes one wonder...

if our filthy leaders are telling themselves, "We're all going under due to climate change anyway, might as well keep the fear and death ratcheted up." This is the inevitable result of allowing people who believe in an afterlife ("So we won't bother now&quot control the world.

[truedelphi]

117. Once, 1998 to 2005, I was selected to be on a local council

that advises the county where I lived on health matters. On account of this, I came in contact, on a monthly basis, with people across the country who had been banned from doing needed research because of critiques they had made. So whatever industry had employed them, would sack them, and usually black list them to boot.

These people were scientists, carefully trained in protocols related to decent scientific research.

Overnight I went from someone who thought my government cared about me. But inside this new world of whistleblowers who had tried to bring about safe measures, and then had their lives destroyed, I saw the light.

I saw how agencies took in the executives from the Big Corporations, and then re-wrote the regulations that had once protected US citizens. After doing the re-write on the regs, the agency heads then went back out into industry, where they had secure and very posh jobs for the rest of their natural lives.

Sometimes I found myself thinking David Icke is right, as if there are no lizard people, then how could people in high industry positions do as they are doing? It used to make sense for terrible environmental things to be allowed for the sake of profit. (I am not arguing that it was ever moral, but I am talking about common sense.) If you owned a mine in such and such a place, but you lived in a city a thousand miles away, you could believe that your own progeny would be safe, as your mine polluted the land and air and soil that was at quite a distance from where you and yours were living. ..

But now the entire planet is being poisoned. Where do these "leaders" and "executives" and "politicians" think their kids will live? They are either tremendously short sighted, or else maybe they are lizard people who are extracting whatever from our planet and will go back to their home planet tucked into some distant star system. And although I am only joking with regards to my last part of my last statement, but lizard people theory is still the only thing that makes sense. If there are no lizard people, then 90% of our Corporate Execs and leaders and politicians are absolutely certifiably nuts.

[laundry_queen]

44. It's ridiculous

A few months ago I thought I'd do an experiment and stray from my normally strict grocery budget and try eating everything from scratch with tons of fruits and veggies (something that hadn't really been happening b/c of prices) and my grocery bill increased by 25% instantly. So I had to stop. I have a small garden, but I live in an area with a very short growing season (I'm in Canada), so it only helps me out for a couple months out of the year.

I did a few comparisons that were eye opening. My kids have to pack their own lunches here (no school lunches where I live) and we use some packaged foods to make it cheaper & easier, so I priced out healthy vs junk alternatives. For instance, a bag of 6 apples was $4. A box of 6 chewy granola bars was $1.50. A 3-pack of milk or soy milk drinks is $3. A 5-pack of orange 'drink' is $1.50. A pint of strawberries is $5. A box of 6 packages of chocolate covered pretzels is $2. And on and on and on. Even the comparisons for dinners - I can get a whole package of pasta on sale for $1 and a jar of sauce for $1.50. So $2.50 for a cheap meal. If I add any meat at all? it's an extra $5-15. Where I live, forget seafood. Enough cheap fish for a family meal is $10. Let's just say we only eat meat once or twice a week and instead rely on cheaper dinner alternatives. My mom was DIRT poor growing up, but they had meat nearly every day. It's a stunning contrast.

In the last 4 years since I've been in my area, milk has gone up by 40%, meat has increased by at least that amount and everything else is increasing at a rate of about 10-25% a year. My income is the same. I can't do it anymore (thankfully, I was a student but will graduate this year as I'm finished classes, and I will be getting a job soon so hopefully that will offset the extra costs).

[LuvNewcastle]

50. Yeah, I just got me a little part-time job, so I'm able to eat better.

Before that I was living on disability, so eating healthy was out of the question. I've only been working there for about a month and I've lost 20 pounds, so that shows you how much my diet contributed to my being overweight. I think I'm going to lose more, too.

I get really sick of people making fun of fat poor people. It almost takes a rich person to be thin nowadays, and people who trash fat poor people are just ignorant of how hard it is for a poor person to eat healthy. It's a serious problem, and as I said in my earlier post, obesity and diabetes are epidemic in America (not sure about Canada) and it disproportionately affects people in poverty.

Something should be done about it, but I doubt it will. Americans seem to think that poor people are somehow immoral and deserving of their fate. It goes back to our Calvinistic Puritan streak. Sometimes I think that all the hope we have on this site for a coming rebellion against capitalism is so much wishful thinking. Americans will have to change their whole mindset for that to ever happen.

[laundry_queen]

51. I agree with everything you say.

Obesity is a problem in Canada but not as big as a problem as in the US. However, it's the same here - rich people are able to afford the good food and have time to exercise, and poor people can't and don't. You can really see the disparity when you look at the 'have' province's obesity rates vs the 'have not' provinces. At least here, as you said, there isn't as much moralizing about poor people - but there is still some. It's not on the same scale though.

[eridani]

79. Denigration of fat is definitely a class thing

100 years ago, being pale and plump said "I sit in the shade and drink mint juleps all day, unlike you poor slobs out in the fields digging potatoes."

Now being tan and lean says "I ski in the winter, play tennis in the summer, and can afford a personal trainer, unlike you slobs who spend all day in offices and factories."

[laundry_queen]

82. That's pretty much it. nt

[LiberalElite]

87. I remember when orange juice was $.79 a quart -

this was about 40 years ago. The price always goes up after a freeze in Florida. However, the price never ever goes down. Anyone know why?

[Maynar]

95. Because

orange juice is made from gasoline.

Didn't you know?

[madville]

116. I buy whatever brand is on sale

They alternate it every week, got a 1/2 gallon yesterday for $2.50 (normally $2.99). $0.79 for a quart in 1974 should be $3.81 today, so that 1/2 gallon should have cost me $7.62 yesterday if OJ had kept up with normal inflation. Looks like I got a deal!

[bluesbassman]

57. A lot of the increase in produce has to do with the drought conditions here in the West.

Whether farmers have had to actually spend more for water or not, they are increasing prices and blaming it on the drought. I know locally it is definitely affecting prices, and like gasoline I'm guessing that other parts of the country get their prices raised because they can blame it on conditions in other areas.

[truedelphi]

76. Why is it farmers in the past used cloud and rain seeding to cause rain?

And now they don't... What happened over the years that that is not allowed...

[tsites]

97. You can't get moisture when there is none

Cloud seeding never really worked and the chemicals they used were not particularly cheap or well tested for health risks. Silver Iodide was the most common seeding agent and I know from my experience with darkroom chemical hazards, that all silver halides pose a significant health risk if ingested. Regardless, you can't create clouds, much less rain, if the moisture is not in the air in the first place.

There was some suggestion that seeding severe storms such as hurricanes could cause them to "rain out" at sea and dissipate before hitting land. The risk that it could make the storm worse ruled out ever testing this hypothesis.

Rain is dependent on weather patterns due to prevailing winds, the jet stream, ocean temperatures and air temperatures. When these get out of balance due to climate change you have droughts in some areas and floods in others and there isn't much you can do about it except to stop the factors that are causing climate change (greenhouse gas emissions, loss of carbons sinks).

[truedelphi]

110. Rain seeding is now being used in Texas, but as you pointed out, moisture is

a requirement. It has to be done when there are clouds available. Which often is the case here, at lest in the autumn. Although we have a drought, we also have frequent periods of thirty six hours of storm clouds that hang over our heads, and then move off without doing more than a two minute spattering of drops.

[truedelphi]

111. Oh and welcome to DU. n/t

[NickB79]

109. Because they didn't, actually

Sure, plenty of them TRIED. They'd pay guys with crop duster planes to fly up and try to coax some rain out of passing clouds, but the success rate was so low that it was closer to urban legend than reality.

What happened over the years is that farmers realized they were pissing away money on charlatan "cloud seeders" that could be better spent on their farms.

[arikara]

58. I know, its horrible

People look at poor people and think they must not be starving because they're obese. But the truth is the food they can afford is such bad quality and calorie dense that they are starving for vital nutrition.

I saw a documentary on inner city people, it was a real eye opener. The only place they could get their groceries was a corner convenience store. So they lived on soda pop, chips, candy bars interspersed with the few canned goods, pasta and packaged "meat" the store carried. Of course everyone is going to be fat, unhealthy and unhappy eating like that. The kids grew up not even knowing what a fresh tomato tastes like.

And it isn't just inner city people who have to eat like that, as you say the food prices for fresh is astronomical and getting worse. So sad. How can any kid get a good start on life if their bodies and brains don't have the fuel they need to grow and thrive.

[Art_from_Ark]

100. It used to be that city neighborhoods would have greengrocers

who would offer fresh produce at a reasonable price. Here in Japan it's still the case in a lot of places. I'm a regular customer of a couple of local greengrocers who offer reasonably-priced produce (locally-produced when in season) and they will sometimes give me discounts on produce that isn't perfect but still quite edible. In my hometown in Arkansas there are some farmers markets in the summer, with really nice downtown markets in Benton County, and some roadside markets as well. When I'm back in town in the summer I try to buy fresh produce from them.

[Quackers]

67. You are correct.

My wife went to a food bank today because we didn't have money for groceries. I thought they would give us some type of meat or something. All we received was 4 boxes of doughnuts, 2 boxes of fruit roll ups, a 2-liter of off brand pop, and a box of granola bars. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for what we received. I just thought we would get food, not tons of sugar. :/

[On the Road]

70. Wow, That is an Eye-Opener

Had no idea.

[yeoman6987]

77. Oh my God!

I am fucking sorry. I know you are being humble saying you are greatful, but I don't have to be humble. That is dispicable. Sorry, but we as a country can do better. That is not what should be given out at a food bank unless it is in addition to FOOD! And no sarcasm in saying food.

[totodeinhere]

86. Yes better food than that should be given out. But I suspect that the food bank was giving that

out because that's all they had. Food pantry shelves are emptying out and there just isn't enough to go around.

[arikara]

102. That's rough

sometimes they don't have anything else to give I guess. My Mr runs a food bank for a medium sized city and they make an effort to get as much healthy food out as they can. Local farmers are really good about donating in their season, but there are times when pickings are slim.

I hope things turn around for you soon.

[raven mad]

103. Yiour food bank, too?

I thought it was possibly just here, due to the extreme prices for fresh meats, seafood, eggs, milk.... and veggies. We did get some almost not-rotten strawberries, though.

[tymorial]

66. There is a direct link between cost of food and gas prices.

I love the president but I don't support the federal gas tax increase for the simple reason that it would already hinder a struggling economy. I also support fixing market speculation which quite frankly has only made the oil industry billions.

[RKP5637]

68. Yep, Agree!!!!! n/t

[laundry_queen]

83. The market speculation is seriously out of control

This was a constant topic of conversation in all my finance classes. We did a bunch of projects on the psychology of the market. That was eye opening. Basically, the consensus among the profs in all of my classes - the current system is not sustainable.

[Marthe48]

72. Big Box destroyed their competition with fake low prices

Now, they can ask whatever they want and there is no other place to go. How much of grocery prices are because of bad climate conditions and how much is because a few big companies snapped up the farms and can jack up food prices? I'm only asking, because I don't know. I do know that I don't shop at big box stores if I can get my needs filled elsewhere and that I'm learning I don't need a lot of things. And yard sales are good

[RKP5637]

73. I don't have the links right now, but a few suppliers basically control the food supply in this

country. It's all a game of greed and we are the losers.

[laundry_queen]

84. +1 nt

[yeoman6987]

78. I am not kidding when I say

It is ALMOST cheaper to go out to eat.

[Marthe48]

81. yep

It depends on how many you're feeding, what you'd cook if you weren't eating out, where you eat if you do go out. So we're competing with restaurants for raw material....

[RKP5637]

88. It's getting close to that! n/t

[jamzrockz]

96. I see we have

an inflation truther. Govt calculations show a modest inflation of 2...%. That's not enough to break anyone's back.

[RKP5637]

107. I should take you shopping with me, then! n/t

[Scuba]

2. "The low end consumer has not benefited in this recovery at all ..." Well, duh.

[daleanime]

5. +1

[truedelphi]

94. Someone here explained to me that the food inflation index is not at all totally

wrong, as it actually accepts the low price of so many foods. As long as you accept 64 ounces of Soda Pop being given away on a daily basis by the likes of Safeway as food that should be reflected in the inflation index.

I know I now avoid Safeway like the plague. Once I started realizing that they totally lock the local farmers out of the market. (Why should I be paying Safeway for apricots from Turkey, when Calif farmers are struggling and have oodles of apricots?)

But if it is true that the junk food end of things gets put into the equation, then that explains why they can say there is little inflation at the grocery stores.

[Historic NY]

4. Could it also be there shopping at better places...

these stores popped up like weeds a few years back. We been seeing ones now that offer more main stream stuff Dollar General including groceries vs the cheap cheap crap.

[Stellar]

17. Exactly,

That's the first thing that came to my mind also.

[SheilaT]

30. Yep, that's what I thought.

In a similar vein, things are often not cheapest at Walmart or Sam's Club. Unfortunately, many people have been bamboozled into thinking they are.

[JPZenger]

38. It is the worst of the dollar stores, and treats their employees like crap

A recent survey found that they were one of the worst employers for treatment of their employees. I've seen that myself.

Dollar Tree and Dollar General are much better stores.

[Warpy]

37. You mean the FOOD BANK?

Because that's what's happening here. They go to the food banks, then they hit Family Dollar and Big Lots for the near expiration stuff and if they have major gaps to fill, they go to the high priced store, Wal Mart.

I live in the area. I have witnessed the traffic flow. And yes, Wal Mart is now too expensive for marginal workers--like the ones who work at Wal Mart.

Better places, my flabby old ass.

[laundry_queen]

46. If people were going to better places

more would be going to Walmart. As you said, that's the traffic flow. Food bank--->Dollar store---->Walmart. AFAIK, Walmart hasn't been doing very well either.

[sammytko]

64. That is what i thought also

I go there when I need enough things to take advantage of their $5 off $25 coupon. Mostly cleaning supplies. I make sure it ends up being cheaper than the regular store, because not all their prices are that great.

[Cha]

91. THat was my first thought, HNY. When I lived in NY I bought paper products at

the Dollar store and could find some great bargains on workout clothes! I miss them. But, out here in Hawaii there are none.. and everything costs a lot! The price of paradise.. I shouldn't complain.

[JoeyT]

92. It could be, but it isn't.

A town near me has about eight chain stores to shop at: A Wal-Mart and seven dollar stores. The dollar store parking lots are full to capacity, and often encroaching on other parking lots. Wal-Mart's is usually around 20% capacity. Anything that isn't a Wal-Mart or Dollar whatever is long since gone. The same is true of pretty much every nearby town with a small enough population that you can see the competition between various stores. (It's kind of hard to do in say Mobile where there are thirty plus Wal-Marts and a few hundred dollar whatevers.)

The sad truth is people can't even afford to shop at Wal-Mart anymore.

The irony is Wal-Mart killed off the locals, now Dollar whatevers are killing Wal-Mart.

[JI7]

101. peopel realizing they actually end up spending more because of low quality items

which need to be replaced more often.

[Vinca]

6. One of these stores opened up nearby and I went in to check it out.

I assumed it was a "dollar" store. It's not. It's crap from China that should cost a dollar and is priced higher. The CEO shouldn't be surprised he's not getting business.

[tomm2thumbs]

7. precisely.... people aren't going to buy this junk for a dollar that is better spent elsewhere

if you want to see how the economy is doing, check out the car traffic. it knows no master. it has never been busier.

[F4lconF16]

49. I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

Can you elaborate?

[PADemD]

8. It's Yard Sale Season

And some yard sale finds are cheaper than what you find at dollar stores.

[Vinca]

52. I head out to yard sales every Saturday morning.

I've found new Coach handbags for $3, new L.L. Bean clothing for a couple of dollars, etc. A couple of weeks ago I bought a complete, unused, set of flannel sheets for $5. Love yard sales!

[whistler162]

9. At least one of the local Family Dollar stores

is closing.

[Blue_Adept]

10. Our local one is closing

The stores have always had the problem in their name. We've got a Family Dollar and a Dollar Tree store in town, close to each other. You go into Dollar Tree the first time and you really do have to take a step back and realize that yes, it's all a dollar per item. Hard to grapple with in some ways for some products.

You expect the same when you go into Family Dollar. They have more variety in certain areas, but they're just a low end store with things.

What hurt beyond that for our store is that it was next to a CVS. Which has plenty of sales, specials, membership rewards, etc. And most times people are going in for medication or getting pictures printed or just other medicinal needs. There's zero incentive to visit Family Dollar next door when most of it is cheaper and with better rewards at CVS.

Not sorry to see them go, though it sucks for the job loss.

[sendero]

12. Wife and I ...

... have spent a lot of time looking around in dollar stores. IMHO, Dollar Tree is the best and Family Dollar and Dollar General are tied for worst - all in terms of value for the money.

[Blue_Adept]

33. Yup

Granted, you get what you pay for with some of it to be sure. My kids bought some swim goggles there and they all broke quickly. But for cleaning supplies, dorm stuff, basic supplies of simple things, it's idea. And for a few good snacks as well compared to supermarkets. Target is pretty much the same on pricing for that thouhg.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. The closest Family Dollar store to me is closing at the end of the month.

[Peacetrain]

13. So much of what is in the dollar store is tainted goods from China

There was a huge news report two weeks ago, about items we take for granted like oh.. pantene shampoos, vaseline.. you name it.. just everything is being copied illegally and being sold in these dollar stores as the real thing.. they can be hazardous to your health

I am taking this complaint from the CEO one with a grain of salt..

Edit to add:
I just did a quick search to find an article about this.. it was on a show like 20/20 or one of those tv magazine shows I think.. but here is a like to what I am talking about

http://voices.yahoo.com/shopping-beware-hidden-dollar-store-dangers-454671.html?cat=46

[LynneSin]

24. That article is not about Family Dollar

Family Dollar is not one of those stores where everything is $1. It's basically like a really low low end version of a Wal-Mart. So they have prices above $1 in their stores. I like to get my Tide in there which is really tide product and it's usually about $1-$2 below the price I could get at the grocery store when Tide isn't on sale. But in the end they do charge normal prices for their stuff.

The article you posted is about stores that only sell $1 items. If Tide was in one of those for $1 I'd figure it was fake. Hell the Dollar store near me sells frozen steaks for $1 - who in the good lord's name would want to have a $1 steak. But I will use that $1 from time to time to buy greeting cards.

[tabbycat31]

41. You gotta be careful what you buy at dollar stores

For the items I buy there (mostly hair accessories like clips, elastics, etc), they're perfect (especially when I lose them often). On occasion, I will get gift wrapping supplies or other office type things there (decorations, plastic tablecloths, etc).

My local dollar store is pretty good but I know to stay away from some sections.

If I am going to put it in my mouth (toothpaste, food, medication, etc) I won't buy it at dollar stores.

[Peacetrain]

48. That is very good advice.. I will be taking it!!

I always buys card at the local dollar stores.. (they have different names) and paper etc.. but I am not going to purchase things that get ingested or could be adsorbed through the skin..

[LiberalElite]

89. I also won't buy electronics like extension cords,

light bulbs, christmas lights at dollar stores. I assume the "UL" designation is fake, particularly if it's not a brand name.

[tabbycat31]

108. I've bought them at Five Below but not dollar stores

and I usually just buy USB cables to charge my phone, etc with. I buy colorful ones so I can distinguish between mine and others when in the office.

ETA for those who don't have them, Five Below is a 'high end' version of a dollar store. Nothing there is over $5.

[truedelphi]

112. On the other hand, my business now buys almost all its stationary supplies

from a local Dollar store.

Big Box Retailer "Staples" has to be losing out. They just sent me a sales flier, on how I can benefit from their sales. Why would I bother? I can pay Staples some $ 4.50 for 25 manila folders, or else I can buy 40 for $ 4, every week of the year, from the dollar store. We used to spend close to $ 400 a year on supplies - but now we spend
about $ 110, and the most expensive items are printer cartridges, that we have to occasionally go out and buy new, when re-inking them is no longer a possibility.

Although in terms of polluted body care and food items from China on the shelves, I very much agree with you, none of what I buy ends up getting eaten or used on my body. (And I have to wonder if Safeway's vaseline is any "purer" than what is on the Dollar Store shelves.)

[Enthusiast]

14. I think the Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine is correct.

The pot of disposable income is very small (rapidly disappearing) for millions of consumers.

Let's make that minimum wage increase a big part of the 2014 election debate.

[Octafish]

15. Well, when 400 Americans at the top own as much as 140 million at the bottom, we got a problem.

Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Solution: Tax Breaks.
Until the 400 Americans at the top own as much as 300 million Americans at the bottom.

[Habibi]

16. Even at my brokest, I never shop there.

Higher-priced low-end junk, really. You can do much better with other discount stores, garage sales, and freecycle.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. Craig's list curb alerts.

[LynneSin]

22. You are right but they do have great prices on cleaning supplies

Yes they usually have a line of no-name junk brand cleaning supplies that are $1 or $2 which I have tried but won't use again. But they also have brand names like Tide, which I love and is usually $1-$2 cheaper than what I can find in the stores. As I said in another post the FD nearest to me are in very unsafe neighborhoods. But there is another further out that if I pass by from time to time I'll stock up on cleaning supplies.

[ksdascribe2]

47. And thrift stores/resale shops?

[dixiegrrrrl]

53. I must comment on thrift stores/resale shops....

When I lived on the West Coast, not that long ago, thrift shops produced some marvelous buys.
Esp. ones that were in high end areas.

When I moved down South, and lived in small communites, it was the opposite...people around here hold onto stuff, or sell it at a garage sale, and only donate to thrift stores the oldest, most worn out things.

They been practicing being poor a long long time down here.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. Meanwhile, the investor class are reading this and thinking, "So what?"

[Tuesday Afternoon]

20. This *Low End Consumer* agrees with this assessment.

[LynneSin]

21. Honestly, I've tried shopping at those stores. They do tend to have better prices on some things but

They're like a step below Wal-mart. Most of the toys and clothes are poorly made Chinese crap and the food sold there is all processed junk.

However, buying cleaning supplies including detergents like Tide are actually a really good bargain at these places.

The only problem, these stores are predominantly located in bad neighborhoods near me. There are 2 near by on Lancaster Avenue and 4th Street in Wilmington and those are areas where I would not want to venture too long for my own safety. However, there are others further away in slightly better neighborhoods where if I happen to pass it I might stop in and stock up on the brand name cleaning supplies I like to use.

[Marrah_G]

23. Its true

Things are only getting better for higher income people.

[mountain grammy]

25. Thrift stores abound around here..

I can find quality stuff at most thrift stores for cheap.

It's the real trickle down; the wealthy can buy the good stuff then donate it for the rest of us to buy at bargain prices. What a win/win this is....

[L0oniX]

26. ...and the Wallstreet facade continues.

[Doctor_J]

55. Wall Street/Big Media facade

Not many reports on the M$M from the bottom end of the "recovery"

rec

[kemah]

27. And a good part of these low end consumers are Tea Party

Tea Party want to get rid of the minimum wage, even though most of their friends and relatives are getting the minimum.
Cutting food stamps, also hurt Wal Mart bottom line.

[arikara]

59. I think many of them

don't vote at all. Political activism needs to target food banks.

[marmar]

28. k/r

[AllyCat]

29. You don't say? And the middle class hasn't

benefitted much either.

[littlemissmartypants]

31. No one

Has gas money to get to the store. That's if they have not yet sold the car.
F*ck the whining CEO.
He's trying to get sympathy now that his female employees are suing him. Class Action. Paying them less than the males when in management positions.

Shopping in the enemy. We should all be in time banks and bartering. And ride sharing.

But tune this crap out. The whine of a CEO. HA!
STATIC. Change the radio to NPR.

Cookies made in China. Wtf.

Love, Peace and Shelter.
littlemissmartypants

[jwirr]

32. Finally someone other than us is saying it.

[Rex]

34. No doubt the WSJ will call him a commie etc..

He is going against the narrative!

[QuestForSense]

35. But he has a cash business, pretty much.

Credit card debt is the real reason the so-called middle class doesn't seem to be feeling the pinch quite as much. Not to be negative, but give it time. It's a precarious balance. One day the shit is going to hit the fan.

[Springslips]

36. Well he should know...

How he pays and treats his lowly paid in-store staff gives him inside knowledge of just how bad they have it. Constant payroll cuts, ridiculous raises, crazy inconsistent scheduled hours, assistant managers working through lunch and not getting paid, managers working 6, 10-hour days or more with no staff ( taking advantage of that exempt employment status) doing all the hard work and paperwork coming out of their arse--being squeezed all enjoyment out of life, denied healthy relationships, slaving their soul for the company tow--all for his bonus and the largess of the 1-percent.

He certainly the one to whine.

[progressoid]

43. Uh, no shit Sherlock.

[KG]

45. But the stock markets reached records highs!

thanks obama!

[Notafraidtoo]

54. Are people really this clueless..

Who doesn't already know this. No wage increases, higher prices on everything of course low income consumers struggle. Republicans always say raising wages raises prices,but the truth is prices go up anyway. Higher wages keeps demand steady. We have all these wealthy investors demanding labor cost reductions, they are like parasites that kill their victim and in the end destroy themselves.

[SansACause]

56. i bought a Christmas cookie platter from one of those places once.

It was somewhat pretty, with snowmen on it. Cheap. Plastic. Made in China.

I always wash these things before using, so as I was rinsing it off, I noticed in tiny print on the bottom "Not for use with food."

[arikara]

60. LOL

I stopped bringing that plastic stuff home, I'd open the package and the smell alone would be so overpoweringly toxic I'd wrap it back up and take it back to the store. I actually can't stand even stand going into those places the chemical stench is so awful. Plastic smell used to dissipate after a few days but it doesn't ever go away anymore.

My Mr has a theory that the Chinese are mixing their toxic waste in to the goods they produce and sell out of the country to get rid of it. I think he could be right.

[JDPriestly]

61. The more we import cheap stuff, the worse our economy gets.

That's the fact. That's what Walmart and other low-end stores are seeing. And the middle-class stores were lost in the 1990s already. We have very few middle class department stores any more. I can think of only about four or five chains. Then we have the Walmart/Target class.

Gone are the days when middle-class ladies sipped tea on the top floor of Bullocks on Wilshire in Los Angeles. I'm happy to say that I have a memory of sitting there once among all those well dressed ladies watching a model walk around the room demonstrating the latest fashions to the ladies as they dined.

Those days are gone.

Which would be fine if they hadn't been replaced by the import junk shops of our day.

[blkmusclmachine]

63. Anybody not beholden to the 1% knows that the 99% is treading water, and lots of it.

DC is a racket

[dinger130]

65. Here's my personal list.....

Homemade detergent - huge savings
Vegetable garden
Fruit trees
Home grown blueberries, raspberries & blackberries
Canning
Coupons and grocery circulars
Sand for kitty litter with baking soda blended in
Rag bag - saves on paper towels
Yard Sales - the biggest saver of all! I think I've hit everyone in my town this year. Just this morning I went to several and bought 2 gently used pair of shorts, a nice door mat, some finely milled bath soap (don't ask me why someone would sell soap but they do), new hand lotion, new flip flops, bath robe, 2 tupperware containers and I spent less than $10.00.

I keep a supply of cloth napkins and use them daily at meals. They don't take much room in the washer and saves on paper expense. Guess where I got my three dozen supply of cloth napkins. You got it....yard sales.

What do I buy at the dollar stores? Canning lids, clorox, t.p. and an occasional roll of paper towels.

[yourout]

69. Been slipping back since Ronnie Raygun was in office. NAFTA, CAFTA, and GAT all....

accelerated the race to the bottom.

[cantbeserious]

90. Prophetic Interview On GATT From 1994

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017201218

[Mr.Bill]

71. Or maybe his customers

are actually benefitting from the recovery enough that they don't have to buy the crap at his junk stores to survive.

[El Shaman]

75. Nope!

People went to work, according to Boehner and Co, because they cut unemployment - remember- benies- so many of us 'organisms' climbed up the food ladder and are feeding on Wallyworld now!!

[HockeyMom]

80. Dollar Store Decorated my Daughter's Baby Shower

Go to Hobby Lobby?????? lol The money I saved at Dollar Store, I splurged on better and more FOOD and Deserts!

[valerief]

99. Duh. nt

[Sherman A1]

104. Family Dollar has all sorts of problems and is

trying to restructure. There are rumors of it being sold outright and Wal Mart is one rumored to buy it, however I suspect that will not happen. I went to a new one the other day to find one small item and it was a lousy experience shopping. Even this store open less than six months looked like a train wreck and I could not find the one item I wanted ( a cheap plastic napkin holder for my sun porch table). Went to Dollar Tree and they had plenty along with 3 people ringing registers as opposed to only one at Family Dollar.

[Kalidurga]

106. Yep,

it is quite possible and very likely that poor people don't like shopping in dirty, poorly lit(which is a blessing in a way), disorganized, understaffed, stores for shoddy and sometimes dangerous goods.