# 99 Cents stores, The end is here **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904 "2024-04-05T22:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/21 "2024-04-07T05:04:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You kind of have to wonder. If these stores were successfully able to rebrand themselves from “every item cost a dollar” to “every item costs $1.25” why don’t they just make another jump and raise all their prices to two dollars if inflation is killing their business? Canada tried that, but “The Toonie Store” failed! (JOKE) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/22 "2024-04-07T05:16:35Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@Seanette](#): > > > > I have yet to encounter a Dollar General here in Sacramento ⁢ > > IIRC, Dollar General’s strategy is to locate their stores in small towns that are too small to support a WalMart or similar sized store. You’ll find them in little towns like Foresthill up in the foothills. Although looking at their locations they do have a few stores around Sacramento, mostly in neighborhoods like North Highlands, which makes sense for a dollar store since that’s the poorer side of town. Not at all how they do it here. Walmart is huge, but there are multiple Dollar Generals. Their main appeal is their smaller size making them a lot more convenient to shop at. In other words, they’re convenience stores. And I regularly shop at both. Well, I order stuff from Walmart, rather than have to go walk around the store. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/23 "2024-04-07T05:47:40Z")
Dollar Tree has really awesome cat litter, $1 for 5 pounds, the cheapest stuff you can get an a real place is 7 pounds for $2.50 so it’s quite the deal. The only difference I can tell from the other cheap stuff is that it comes in a plastic bag (no sturdy double laminate paper bags like regular cat litter) and it’s multicolor and not a uniform white or gray. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/24 "2024-04-07T05:52:52Z")
In South Arkansas where tiny towns out number Walmart size towns. Dollar General is in every one of the small places. They are in Walmart towns. Usually multiples of them. Yes it’s a convenience store if there are more than one. Not sure how that works tho’, I’ve never been in one with more than one check out clerk or the self checkout without out an _out of order_ sign. So usually a long line. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/25 "2024-04-07T13:29:44Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Family Dollar and Dollar tree are connected somehow. Dollar Tree owns Family Dollar. And there’s another chain that I don’t think was mentioned called Five Below. Never been in one but I assume everything is five dollars or less. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/26 "2024-04-07T13:32:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > hain that I don’t think was mentioned called Five Below I mentioned it in post #19. Yes, originally everything in it was five dollars or less. More recently some things in it are ten dollars or less. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/27 "2024-04-07T13:36:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Dollar Tree owns Family Dollar. As of 2015. > [@](#): > > Dollar Tree, which focuses more on middle-income shoppers in suburbs, bought Family Dollar in 2015 for $8.5 billion. > > The combined company hoped that by joining forces, it could grow its customer base, reduce costs and fend off bigger retailers like Dollar General, which is mainly in rural areas. > > But Dollar Tree has struggled to integrate Family Dollar and has closed hundreds of stores in recent years. > > Family Dollar stores were in worse condition than Dollar Tree expected when it acquired the business, analysts say. (Source: [Family Dollar and Dollar Tree will close 1,000 stores](https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/13/investing/family-dollar-dollar-tree-closing-stores/index.html)) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/28 "2024-04-07T13:44:21Z")
Sort of the modern equivalent of a five and dime store. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/29 "2024-04-07T15:26:20Z")
That was my point. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/30 "2024-04-07T16:11:29Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > There used to be five and dime stores. Now there’s Five Below stores. In about 204 years from now, there will be Only a Grand stores. In Arizona there is Five Bellow, self described as a “cool” store, and it also has “Ten bellow” electronics and other items in the store. Of course, there are ready for the expected increases. They are beginning to use in the stores in sections the name “Five and Beyond”!. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/31 "2024-04-07T16:15:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And there’s another chain that I don’t think was mentioned called Five Below. Never been in one but I assume everything is five dollars or less. Five Below aims for a different demographic. They’re not selling necessities. They’re more like a mall store (even when they’re not actually located in a mall) - a place where teenagers and kids spend their allowance. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/32 "2024-04-07T17:59:21Z")
When I was a kid, the local 5 and dime was called “Ralphs 5, 10, 25 cents store”. It lasted much longer than I though it would. Out here in my woods we just had a new development go in. New cookie cutter houses and a shopping structure with 3 openings in it. One was filled with a Dollar General (the other 2 are still vacant, over a year in). I wasn’t happy when the DG went in but I have to say, for certain things it’s convenient. The nearest real grocery story is at least a 20 minute drive. If I need to grab some kitty litter or bread or toilet paper it’s nice to be able to grab it locally. That being said, I see how these stores can trap folk if it’s the only game in town. The prices actually kind of suck - not always cheaper in absolute terms and the items are often smaller than I can get in the real store. So not really a money saver. I have no complaints about the store cleanliness. There’s always only one person working there but all the registers are self-service and I’ve never had an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/33 "2024-04-07T19:45:02Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > In Arizona there is Five Bellow, self described as a “cool” store Is this supposed to be a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/34 "2024-04-07T20:04:49Z")
Dollar General and Family Dollar aren’t really the same sort of thing as Dollar Tree, though. The former two are general stores that stock a wide variety of things at a variety of price points. They’re usually generic and usually cheaper than name-brand, and sometimes you can find real bargains at them, but they’ll stock whatever they can sell, and price each item at a point that’s profitable for them. You could have a small town where the only retail outlet was Dollar General or Family Dollar, because they’d stock whatever basic day-to-day items you were looking for. Dollar Tree, though, is (or at least was) a true dollar store, where they set the price first, and then only stock things that they can sell for that price (it’s still the same principle, even if that set price is now $1.25 or $1.50 or whatever it is). So it can’t be the only store serving a community, because there’s too much they just don’t have. In other words, if $5 is a good price for a widget, then Dollar General and Family Dollar will have off-brand widgets for $5, but Dollar Tree won’t have them at all. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/35 "2024-04-07T20:15:36Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Is this supposed to be a joke? Sadly or happily (YMMV), no: [![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipP0g0gv42kXOMxIZUYLhf86FaMfNP163MxmQIZB=s1360-w1360-h1020) ](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipP0g0gv42kXOMxIZUYLhf86FaMfNP163MxmQIZB=s1360-w1360-h1020) And I just noticed that the o in Below looks like the degree symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Deanna\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Deanna\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deanna_D)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/36 "2024-04-08T01:46:55Z")
fiVe BEL°W is my least favorite of all the “cheap stuff” stores. I am irrationally annoyed by how hip they’re trying to be, especially with their big speakers out front, blaring generic dancy-type music into the entire strip mall. And $1 to $5 and _beyond_? So, it’s anywhere from $1 to…what? Interesting price point there. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/37 "2024-04-08T02:04:23Z")
DG is just DG. It has a weird vibe that matches the community it’s in. My(like I own it or something) DG is odd. The local clientele is odd. The checker(s) comes from that community. The music could be anything. I swear they play their own playlists. The store is darker than I like. And the roof leaks. The locals know when not to go. Weather permitting. They do keep it neat. Unlike others I’ve been in. So it’s all relative. I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/38 "2024-04-08T02:09:33Z")
> [@Deanna\_D](#): > > especially with their big speakers out front, blaring generic dancy-type music Not true of the Five Below nearest me. Is there really some point in referring to this chain as Five Bellow or fiVe BEL°W? So they use odd shapes in their letters. So what? I’m not particularly praising the store. Occasionally, I can find something there that I actually want. It’s small enough that I can walk through it in two minutes and then leave without buying anything. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/39 "2024-04-08T02:45:52Z")
the good bumwines! lol ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904/40 "2024-04-08T03:40:53Z")
we have them here They’re a slightly upper-scale big lots … the reasoning behind family dollar is thus : They’ll advertise the name-brand items to get people who go “EWWW dollar stores!” to come in But they’ll have the smallest amount of the name-brand item you can sell for the most expensive amount the brand will let you sell it for Now if you look near or next to the name brand you’ll notice hey here’s approximately the same thing for a bigger size and cheaper! Which is wholly made and distributed by the parent company(aka Greenbriar Intl) for pure profit and which you might overlook that they sell it for cheaper in the dollar tree next door because of "ewwww dollar stores " [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cents-stores-the-end-is-here/999904.md?page=3)