Every item is 1.00 (or less) at Dollar Tree. I frequent one that has refrigeration, and, hence, frozen foods and foods that need refrigeration. I assume these items are things that are not moving - but from where? I asked the clerk and she said the frozen stuff is from “Southeastern.” I assume that this is a company that amasses items that are not moving and delivers them to Dollar Tree. How does this chain of delivery work?
What a lot of discount stores like this do is buy salvaged items. Maybe the boxes are a bit damaged, and some other business didn’t want broken stuff on their shelves, making them look bad, so they sell it for a significant discount. Here in Maine we have a chain of discount stores called Marden’s. It’s full of damaged items, off brands, and out-of-season items. ($5.00 for a whole case of candy canes! In May!)
Many of the refrigerated and frozen foods at my neighborhood Dollar Tree are items that are also available, for prices in the neighborhood of $1, at regular grocery stores.
Some of them get fairly close (like 4 for $5) but some there are big disparities. Sometimes a food store will advertise 10 for $10 (which means you can buy one for $1), such as cans of soups. They apparently are not moving, but that is one store. How does Dollar Tree get them from many stores?
We have many discount stores here, too, such as Burke’s. The items are usually irregulars but not cold or frozen stuff.
Dollar Tree isn’t a salvage store. They have their own stuff that they buy from vendors like any other store, and distribution warehouses to ship it to their stores. They don’t sell anything that isn’t in the $1 range anyway.
In Milwaukee when beer gets close (but not over) it’s shelf life date the distributors pull it from stores and rather than destroy it take it to a liquor store in the central city where it’s sold for insanely low prices. 6 packs of Sam Adams for $1.99. I bought a couple of 12 packs of Corona for $2.99 each.
I’m thinking this is the same with some of the food items at the dollar store. Cases of stuff have been sitting in the store rooms of the local Pick 'n Save and such and the managers are just tired of looking at it. Rather than having it destroyed or hauled back to a warehouse the distributor takes it across the street to the dollar store and recoups some money on it.
Just a theory, though.
Just a theory, but it’s exactly why I don’t buy food or medicine at dollar stores/liquidators. I love those stores for many things, but not foodstuffs—namebrand or otherwise.
I have a bit of experience selling to warehouse stores and after reviewing Dollar Tree’s “Vendor Partners” page, I’m fairly certain it works the same way.
“We work closely with our vendors, carriers, and transportation associates to achieve an extremely cost-efficient supply chain.”
In other words, everyone involved better be quoting their rock bottom prices or you won’t get the business.
Because of the huge volumes involved, places like Home Depot, for example, can often get away with telling their vendors what they’re willing to pay for an item and you either supply at that price or you don’t get the order. I used to sell ready mix concrete to Home Depot and they dictated the price they were willing to pay and we could either accept the PO or not, and trust me, if you turn down an order, you’re not likely to get another chance. We eventually gave up selling to them because the profit margins were just too low.
Holy crap! :eek: Where is this place, if you don’t mind me asking? Next time I’m up in Milwaukee (which is several times a year, usually–hell, that’s where we went for our honeymoon), I need to have this place in mind. Usually, I just stock up on New Glarus beers when I’m up in the area, but any Sams less than $6 a six-pack, I’d be happy with, as long as they’re not too far over the sell-by date.
I suspect that most dollar-store merchandise is stuff intended for sales at dollar stores, rather than irregular, surplus or damaged goods, just like the stuff sold at the outlet stores is mostly stuff meant for sale at outlet stores, rather than the same goods sold at the major department stores. (There are just too many dollar stores for them just to rely on irregular, surplus or damaged goods.) There are wholesalers, such as this one, that supply merchandise to dollar stores.
Don’t know if it has an exact name (just says liquor on the sign). It’s in a plaza at 60th and Silver spring. There are a couple of liquor stores around there so be sure to go to the very back and check the north east “discount corner” and the north west end of the cooler. If prices are unbelievable you’re in the right place. The deals seem to be directly related to the time of month.
The deals are always good, sometimes they’re insane!
Negative side is, the location isn’t the “core” but it’s at the border of not being so great. Westlawn housing project is across the street and there is routinely some shitheads hanging around the parking lot. So bring (or pack) a friend.
I was excited once to see that my brand of toothpaste was there for 1 until I checked the store and found that it only cost .79 there. I just hadn’t paid attention to price before.
Bob
One thing you should do is look at the packaging of the stuff they sell vs the stuff in grocery stores–I think frequently they sell smaller sized units than you get in the grocery store.
Thanks. I’ll keep that place in mind next time I’m in the area.
I tried doing some shopping at the 99 Cents stores a few years back. Their grocery selection struck me a being high on the “salvage” end of the spectrum. A lot of the food was in visibly damaged containers – dented cans, badly stained and discolored boxes, stuff like that. I began to get uncomfortable eating that stuff.
Most of the food at the Dollar Trees around here are just about even with the regular stores’ unit prices. Sometimes, Dollar Tree stuff is even more expensive per serving. The only real edible bargains there are candies, and Walmart beats them sometimes on the “theater box” candy prices.
As has been hinted, there are two completely different supply streams for dollar and surplus stores. One is the huge pipeline from Chinese and North American factories that supplies nearly all ordinary department, discount, and grocery stores. A place like Dollar Tree will have close profit margins on a limited selection of items, or slightly smaller package sizes, or both.
The other stream is a bunch of small pipes: salvage of damaged or misrouted containers, discontinued or short-dated items.
Different stores and chains have different mixes from the two streams. Dollar Tree and Family Dollar are nearly all mainstream. Big Lots and many run-of-the-mill local dollar stores (common in Latino areas) are about half and half; Big Lots is so huge that the “salvage” will generally be enormous quantities of things either discontinued or being given new packaging by the manufacturer, not otherwise found in the US market. Regional “surplus” chains like Ollie’s and Ocean State Job Lots are mostly the unpredictable (but potentially rewarding) side streams.
Some of the items are no bargain. The toothpaste comes in a 78-ounce tube. Using a coupon or a BOGO sale you can get two large tubes at other stores for a better value. The smoked sausage is very thin (but that’s enough for me). A can of Friskies or Fancy Feast cat food will cost less than $1.00 anywhere else. But the Progresso soups cost around $2.50 elsewhere, unless you cash in on Harris-Teeter buy 2 get 3 free deals (which they have periodically). Six eggs for $1.00 is hard to beat, but Wal-Marts has 8 eggs for $1.30. A box of oatmeal is the same brand that Wal-Mart sells (Great Value), and Wal-Mart sells it for $1.25. A large slice of tiramisu for $1.00 is a deal. The loaves of breads have a near sell by date, so I do not take advantage of that. All-in-all there are good buys to be had there, especially the soups.
As Mr. Downtown pointed out, many of the items (as the toothpaste) are smaller and some of the items may have been discontinued or short-dated (bread). But it’s the soups that are real bargains: the use by dates are still a year or two. I realize that these cans have BPA, but at my age (77) I am not going to worry about that, and the sodium does not bother me as I do not have hypertension.
Tiramisu is not a healthy choice, but an occasional indulgence. It does not have any trans fats like many of their desserts have. The only ones that do not have partially hydrogenated oils are the fruit pies.