This is an article about dollar stores. That said, it is absolutely not an article discussing price structures, low-income economics, vending principles or urban retailing. I have no interest in those things. I am interested in the deeper, more subversive socio-commercial forces that dollar stores embody and enable; namely: depression, discount pregnancy tests and whether or not The Bargain Barn is the worst thing to happen to planet Earth in the last century. Spoiler alert, it probably is. By the grace of God, two loving parents and some pro-Kmart zoning regulations, I have managed to live upwards of 17 years without ever having darkened the door of a dollar store. Sadly, this came to an end last Wednesday when I was forced by a so called …show more content…
You notice, for example, that you have not heard a word of English since you arrived. You notice that it is possible for inanimate objects like peg hooks and shelves to actually communicate sadness. You notice that time has lost all meaning. Have you been in this purgatory of fake flowers and party favours for hours? Decades? You begin to doubt every choice you have ever made. Possibly the existence of God. And then, just as your descent into disorientation and despair pushes you to the verge of crises too numerous to count, you see them. The employees. Those wretched, pitiable souls condemned to spend all eternity, or all of 25-30 hours a week, toiling beneath the sun of the suicide lights overhead. Fortunately, there are not many of them, as evident by the fact that there will never be more than one checkout lane open at a time. Working at the dollar store is not a career, it is a cautionary tale. Being a dollar store sales employee is the third most depressing thing a human can do, after selling mattresses and having anything to do with the Department of Motor Vehicles. If this is the case, then a dollar store must be, at best, one of the three most depressing places a human being can go. And yes, that includes the right wing of a cancer ward and Palmerston
Everyone loves to save money. In the tough economic times of today, every dollar counts. For some families, saving twenty dollars a week can mean the difference between having food on the table or not. Whether out of necessity or just the thrill of getting a good deal, American families have been relying on “big box” retailers for inexpensive products for decades. There really is nothing quite like going into one store and being able to buy clothes, groceries, auto supplies, pet supplies and items for the home. An entire day’s worth of shopping can be done in one place at a fraction of the time, at very competitive prices. These same stores also hire hundreds of employees from the community and are thought to benefit the city and county greatly with their tax dollars.
Wal-Mart represents the sickness of capitalism at its almost fully evolved state. As Jim Hightower said, "Why single out Wal-Mart? Because it's a hog. Despite the homespun image it cultivates in its ads, it operates with an arrogance and avarice that would make Enron blush and John D. Rockefeller envious. It's the world's biggest retail corporation and America's largest private employer; Sam Robson Walton, a member of the ruling family, is one of the richest people on earth. Wal-Mart and the Waltons got to the top the old-fashioned way: by roughing people up. Their low, low prices are the product of two ruthless commandments: Extract the last penny possible from human toil and squeeze the last dime from its thousands of suppliers, who are left with no profit margin unless they adopt the Wal-Mart model of using nonunion labor and shipping production to low-wage hellholes abroad." (The Nation, March 4th 2002 www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020304&s=hightower).
Mallaby admits Wal-Mart can treat their employees and other retailers unfairly, but as a result everyone can share in the 50 billion in savings that American shoppers consume annually. The pay that employees get is the price they must pay for low priced merchandise. Because of the minimal pay to employees, Wal-Mart strengthens its’ consumer buying power. Giving the American shoppers the savings they need, Wal-Mart’s has ultimately been them successful. Wal-Mart has potentially wiped out the middle class as an employer, but the employees can now work and ...
Dollar Tree’s acquisition of the Family Dollar stores will better equip them to compete with the leaders in the market such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Dollar General. The acquisition of Family Dollar establishes a new giant of the dollar-discount industry; Dollar Tree will expand significantly to 13,000 stores throughout the United States and Canada (DollarTree.com, 2015). This acquisition also increases Dollar Trees’ access to markets with lower incomes, increases their buying power and their ability to negotiate greater discounts from suppliers while still discovering ways to reduce
Quinn, Bill. How Walmart Is Destroying America (and the world), And What You Can Do About It. Third Edition. Ten Speed Press, 2005. Print.
The first Walmart was opened in Rogers, Arkansas in the year 1962 by a 44-year-old man by the name of Sam Walton. When he first envisioned Walmart, Walton believed that a successful business could be built around offering lower prices and great service. Despite his retail rivals laughing at his supposedly unsustainable business model, the company became hugely successful, and its success exceeded even Walton's expectations. The company went public in 1970, and the proceeds financed a steady expansion of the business. Today, Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, as it has 8,500 stores spread across 15 countries and annual revenues of $400 billion dollars. Moreover, Walmart is the
The dollars stores also increased in store count, increasing from 16,753 in 2005 to 25,340. Finally, given the sluggish wage and employment growth, 93% of consumers planned to maintain a cautious spending habit, according to a study conducted by Deloitte. These three facts show a positive outlook for the dollar store companies. On a per unit basis, Dollar companies also tend to be more expensive than larger retailers such as Walmart and Costco but their target market prefers to
Few companies create as much controversy as Wal-Mart has done with its approach to maintaining high profits with low costs. Individuals either love or hate Wal-Mart. There are consumers who like the low prices and convenience of shopping at Wal-Mart. Supporters of Wal-Mart also laud the fact that the company creates multiple jobs for not just the individuals who are employed within the stores but also those who create the products that are sold in the stores. Critics of Wal-Mart have issues with the treatment of those individuals who work at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a poor track record when it comes to Fair Labor Practices by giving low wages, bad healthcare coverage, and treats employees. Low wages, no benefits, irregular schedules, and unreliable hours are just some of the horrible working conditions most Walmart workers have to endure.
Do you like getting rich one penny at a time? If so then you should love pennies. Regardless, the penny remains in the United States currency. Pennies are up for debate whether they are still needed in our currency. The manufacture of pennies should be continued in the United States.
Because Dollar General does not sell in bulk, they tailor their supply chain to focus on more frequent deliveries of goods to smaller stores. Although this creates some inefficiencies relative to their big box rivals who were able to ship larger truckloads to their stores, Dollar General benefits from a denser network of stores in many areas as they had more than twice as many US locations (11,061) as Wal-Mart (4,807) in 2013. Additionally, Dollar General owns all trailers moving to and from distribution centers, but subcontracts trucking [dollar general 10K]. This reduces their necessary capital investment, while retaining key distribution activities including control of the loading, unloading and delivery scheduling of products to both retail stores and distribution centers.
wonderful lighting but the main thing is how clean the stores are. Wal Mart stores are housed in
Few companies create such controversy as Walmart has done with its approach to maintaining low costs for everyday items. People either love Walmart because of this approach to keeping prices down or hate it due to the effects it has on the economy. There are a lot of arguments surrounding the minimum wage and employee rights at Walmart. There seems to always be a news article about some employee protest about the wages or how they are treated. Walmart is viewed as an enormous firm that does not take care of its employees because of its minimum wage, treatment of its employees, and how it deals with lawsuits.
Walmart has had a long-standing presence in America society since the middle of the 20th century, seen as a place to get everything done, Walmart has become a fixation in our society. From grocery shopping, to changing your oil and even filing your annual tax returns, Walmart is always there, everyday. Started by Sam Walton in 1962, it began as a small operation catering to a small Arkansas community. It was started on principles very similar to small local businesses in small towns. Today Walmart has gotten a different, darker reputation. On the surface, Walmart may seem like the solution to everyday issues. Low-income families are attracted to the low prices, and people who work odd hours benefit greatly from the 24 hours a day that many Walmarts are open. Lately, Walmart has also managed to be publicly recognized as a store that sells many of today’s green products, including organic food, environmental conscious cleaning products, as well as, paper products made from recycled paper. However, underneath all this, Walmart has a different side. Exploitation of its workers is widespread amongst Walmarts who do not belong to a union, especially in the United States. Wal...
Going to the mall is like being at a zoo. Herds of inconsiderate teenagers crowd the walkways, girls fight over the best pair of shoes, and the merchandise is thrown all over the place. Imagine being able to have a stress free day of shopping without annoying kids running around and the ease of looking at perfect displays that have not been touched by the grimy hands of children. If you could eliminate the younger population from the mall, shopping would be much easier for everyone. Parents can enjoy their day out, girls-day won’t be interrupted by kids running a muck in the store, the employees jobs will be easier by not having to fix the displays that were messed up by children, and the amount of merchandise stolen will decrease if the younger population sticks to online shopping! Shopping
Around Christmas time all people have a different way we like to go about shopping. Some like to stay in the comfort of their own home. While others like to save every little penny they can and some shoppers like to get in and out of the store as fast as possible. There are three types of holiday shoppers, the online shoppers, the bargain shoppers, and last but not least the man on a mission.