The Death of Dollar Store, Dollar General, etc.

[packman]

Not content with their regular stores, their Mega stores and their Super stores, Wal Mart is now going after all those little fish left in the water. Say good bye to the local 7-11, Tom Thumb, and small convience stores. The Wal-mart Shark is circling:

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[djean111]

1. I buy a LOT of my household needs at the Dollar Tree.

Walmart, even if I didn't mind their policies, is no cheaper than any other store except for the Dollar Tree.
By the way, some of those "Dollar" stores are giant rip-offs.

[yeoman6987]

4. I know they are killers of smaller companies like 7-11

but I like the way they have built the stores. That Walmart Neighborhood Market looks really neat. Will I go into one? I don't know.....I have never seen one. They can't be that popular.

[Atman]

7. This makes me sad.

There is never, ever anything "great" about Walmart. Ever.

[yeoman6987]

11. I was just referring to the architecture

[Bonx]

15. Our 7-11's are nothing to get excited about

They recently took over four spots of a former local chain & tore out the kitchens & replaced the freshly made food with metal rollers of hot dogs and a glass box full of old pizza under heat lamps. All the local specialty items replaced with bland national brand crap.

[Jenoch]

19. I don't think 'smaller company' and 7-11 belong in the same sentence.

There are more than 50,000 7-11 locations worldwide and their headquarters is in Tokyo.

[Kaleva]

6. I do alot of my shopping at the local Family Dollar store.

Dollar Tree is very good but the nearest one is some 40 miles away so it's rare I get the chance to shop there.

[Freddie]

30. My son used to work for Dollar Tree

PT in HS/college. They seem to treat their employees pretty well compared to other retail.

[Agschmid]

2. Have an article to link too?

I saw this other day but the article I read said walmart has a loooooong way to go before they conquer 7-11.

I'll find my source...

[TexasProgresive]

5. Here's one

http://news.yahoo.com/wal-mart-looks-to-grow-by-embracing-smaller-stores-155257090.html

[Agschmid]

9. Thank you!

[davidpdx]

3. I have heard about the Wal-Mart Express and Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets, but never seen one

Wal-mart pulled out of South Korea in 2006 after failing miserably. Tesco South Korean subsiderary Homeplus has the same type of hypermarts. There are two in our neighborhood in addition to a full Homeplus store.

They look similar:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. face/palm

*sigh*

[Atman]

10. Look, Giant Mega Corp is duping you into thinking they're a local market!

How did this country get so stupid?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. at the risk of sounding stupid -

fuck I know.

I just happen to live here.

maybe Kardashians and Football and ...

I'm not saying it was Aliens but, dude it was Aliens with "actual film footage"

[Atman]

18. Cool!

Although I don't know WTF you're talking about.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

20. me either but, they are all up in my house with disease.

[RKP5637]

56. The US is in the express lane to total Idiocracy at an exponential rate. n/t

[greatlaurel]

12. Sam's kids are just stupid rich people running Dad's business into the ground.

The local stores in Ohio are poorly staffed and very poorly stocked. The parking lots are often empty except in a very few places.
Their prices are not cheap either.

They fail to stock common items like peanuts and graham crackers. No way to run a business.

[betterdemsonly]

21. Same thing here n/t

[PADemD]

14. On a cold day in Hell will I shop at Walmart, large or small

[Populist_Prole]

33. And even then, I won't

Unfortunately my refusal to patronize that evil empire is overshadowed by so many people I know who are so damned loyal to that shite hole. To hear some of them talk, they can't live without it.

[RKP5637]

57. The only time I go to Walmart is when I have to drive by one. I really hate F'en Walmart and

everything they stand for. On occasion I have to drive through their parking lot, always treacherous, at least here, because there are so many damn fools in the parking lot that can't drive worth a damn.

[Arkansas Granny]

16. Our local paper ran a story a couple of days ago about two WalMart Express stores that will be

built in our area. They are both to be in small towns in rural areas that are at least 20 - 30 minutes from a town large enough to have supermarkets. One of these towns has not had a grocery store at all in over 4 years. They will definitely be welcomed there.

[Lancero]

35. Aexpress is going up in Russellville as well.

And it already has a Supercenter, 10-15 minutes away from where they are building it.

And it's going inbetween a Krogers, Dollar General, Freds and Walgreens.

Pretty sure the Walgreens will be closing up shop as a result, proably the Dollar General as well.

[Warpy]

17. Marginal workers here start at the food bank

then they head to the dollar stores and Big Lots for their near expiration food and if they have big gaps to fill, they go to the high priced store--Wal Mart, where a lot of them work.

This is no longer a recession. It's a depression. It's just been hidden from view because our corrupt and utterly useless infotainment news media won't report on it.

[gollygee]

22. Those stores aren't local either

There are local stores that will be affected, but Dollar Tree or whatever isn't local.

[shanti]

23. My local 99 cent store

is not even strictly 99 cents per item anymore. They also sell wine (I'm in Cali) and it's $2.99 a bottle. They changed much of their produce to 99 PER POUND rather than 99 cents per package, which is a rip off, because their produce isn't really top quality and not worth even that. I'd rather spend my money at the local saturday farmer's market and get better quality produce, than pay out to the 99 cent store. their produce is mostly from mexico anyway. i bought a bag of small avocados recently from 99 cent, and all four of them were spoiled on the inside, even though they looked ok from the outside.

but to the subject, there won't be an express here, as the local walmart is across the street from the 99 cent store.

[hfojvt]

24. "reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

But we are supposed to mourn Dollar General? I shop at the local DG, because it is cheap and very close to where I live, but how are they supposed to be better than Wal-mart. One employee there told me he would make more money if he worked at Wal-mart. It's not like their pay and benefits are better than Wally's. They are certainly smaller, but it's not like they are a mom and pop, or locally owned. (although I am surprised the Montgomery Ward business model has not been more successful - they were locally owned, and by being locally owned you get a local owner who will bust their butt trying to make the franchise work. I said from my own business experience that you will work longer, and harder and for less pay for yourself than you would for any other employer.)

[Atman]

25. I'm starting a $1.37 Store...just to f**k with people.

I'm going to market it as an "Upscale" dollar store.

[Tetris_Iguana]

27. Lol

[TeeYiYi]

26. I live in rural Utah...

...where the closest town just watched its Family Dollar store go out of business last week.



Meanwhile, the Dollar Tree in the same town does more business than it has a right to and is a direct competitor to Walmart.



The local Walmart is the biggest game within a 50 mile radius. They are the largest local retailer and employer for miles.

Lately, the local Walmart has been revamping their business model; higher prices, less inventory. The town is changing and I recently found out that Target will soon have a new store there.

Meanwhile, the storefronts on main street struggle to stay open; quietly shuttering themselves one after another...

What does it all mean? I don't know. It's sad. It's another small town whose main street business owners are losing the battle to stay competitive with large corporations.

A sign of the times. Growing pains in a small town that is rapidly losing its middle class and catering to the frugality of the majority of its citizens who subsist on food stamps and social security checks.

TYY

_{Photos are random google images and not the actual stores from the town I'm talking about.}

[GeorgeGist]

28. Remember these?

[librechik]

29. yes, and I miss them desperately

along with items for 5 or 10 cents.

[TeeYiYi]

31. I miss...

..."penny pieces" at the little brown store.

TYY

[Freddie]

32. Yes thanks for the memories

Actually Kresge lives on, at least for now, as Kmart.

[Wounded Bear]

34. There's a Ben Franklin local to me...

It's no longer 5 and Dime, of course. It's more of a hobby store, arts and crafts and stuff.

[eppur_se_muova]

44. Interesting ! An alternative to Hobby Lobby ? nt

[Wounded Bear]

47. I suppose...

I don't know of a HL in my immediate area, and since I don't frequent such stores, I haven't researched. I guess there is one in Eastern WA, but I don't know of any in the Seattle area.

I compare the BF with stores like JoAnn's and/or Michaels as far as merchandise and activities. They do classes on crafts and such and sell a lot of supplies for home crafts and holiday decorations and the like.

[eppur_se_muova]

61. Sadly, there's no longer a BF in our town ...

used to be one, back when they were a 5&10. Apparently there's only about nine in the whole US.

[Nye Bevan]

37. That's where I got my first real six-string!

I played it until my fingers bled.

[onethatcares]

50. Joey quit,

Billy got married

Was the summer of 69.

[Maedhros]

54. "Now, now, the Canadian Government has apologized for Bryan Adams on several occasions!" [n/t]

[SoCalDem]

39. My home town had Ben Franklin, SS Kress..Kresge..Woolworth, Duckwalls & Neisner

AND a whole downtown full of locally owned family businesses & restaurants.. Everything was closed on Sundays, and nothing stayed open (except for a few restaurants) past 5:30 PM Mon-Sat.

We had Sears, Wards, Western Auto, Penneys and several shoe stores, as well as many other independent stores.

Malls & suburbans sprawl killed our downtown..

[SamKnause]

40. Bethel, Ohio

still has a Ben Franklin store.

[NickB79]

41. There's still a Ben Franklin store in Lakeville, MN

I remember going to one in Little Falls, MN as a kid in the 80's.

[RebelOne]

43. Remember the 5 & 10 stores well.

When I was a kid, I used to shop at them for Christmas in downtown Miami. It was really a treat and go downtown to shop at Woolworth.

[Atman]

46. Didn't even need the names.

We used to just call them "The 5 & 10."

[bluesbassman]

49. Sprouse-Reitz was our only "department" store for years.

I think that's even my mom's old Rambler station wagon parked out front!

[RKP5637]

58. Yes, they were great stores and seemed to have a bit of everything and not junk. n/t

[jmowreader]

62. There are still a few Ben Franklin stores

[NM_Birder]

36. the wallmart boycott is working,

it's forcing them to downsize their stores.

[Humanist_Activist]

42. Hmm, this will be interesting, don't know if it will work everywhere...

The problem is, as always, location, location, location. While 7-11s in our area seem to be downsizing, it looks like its because of bad locations and changing economic conditions. They seem to do best in more urban environments.

Wal-Mart seems to have a similar issue, both for the big box supercenters and their regular stores. There are several in my area, but practically anywhere I lived, they were never the closer to me than someplace more convenience and cheaper. For example, the 2 closest walmarts are two supercenters, but both are about 5-6 miles from me...driving either east or west. But, literally on the way to one of these stores, there's a Target that's less than 3 miles away, and a full fledged Mall. If you are talking groceries, there are 3 local grocery store chains closer than Walmart, being about 2 miles away from home(2 Schnucks, one Shop n' Save), and 2 of them are 24 hour stores. Not to mention the 2 Walgreens we are just as close two, or the convenience store that is right across the street from me.

Oh, forgot to mention all the Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree stores near me, there are at least half a dozen that are closer than the nearest Walmart.

Unless Walmart is going to buy out existing chains of stores, it will be an uphill battle for them to compete.

[Atman]

45. Even their so-called logo is a rip-off.

First they used the non-trademarked smiley face. Then they use "Shift 8" for their new logo. Anything to avoid paying working people for their jobs.

[TheMightyFavog]

48. Their asterisk logo always reminds me of Vonnegut's drawing of an asshole.

[yallerdawg]

52. The Walmart logo...

Walmart - "pucker up and kiss my ass, customers."

[Trajan]

59. My favorite avatar

QED ...

[City Lights]

51. I hope I live long enough to see Walmart die a slow, painful death.

[CincyDem]

53. I would not bet that Walmart's decision to play means they will win.

Lots of noise when Walmart decided to go after fresh foods and take on the grocery channel. Kroger seems to be doing quite well thank you very much.

7-11 is Southland out of Dallas. They're no "small company". Lots of smart folks that know their consumers really really well. It's not like their taking on the local mom and pop grocery or five-and-dime on this one.

Shoppers at convenience stores come through the door with a mindset and buying patterns different that the traditional Walmart consumer. There's a little more to selling to those folks than just putting a little store on the corner.

[djean111]

60. They advertised a lot down here in Florida, touting that they were cheaper than Publix.

Nope. Not working.

[RKP5637]

55. ... but we don't allow monopolies in USA, Inc. Guess that flew out the

window a long time ago.

[sendero]

63. I'm not so sure...

... that Wal-Mart is or will be such a formidable competitor in this space.