Shopping at Dollar Stores Can Make Sense

Wanna save a buck?

With two Family Dollars, a couple of Dollar Generals, a Dollar Tree and the soon-to-open Dollar Express, there's no shortage of discount stores in the area for bargain-crazed shoppers. "I think the dollar stores are today's version of the five-and10's," said Jim Boyle, president of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce. "It's almost like history repeating itself in the sense that 40 years ago those shops were everywhere."

In the past, dollar stores were cluttered havens for products that didn't sell elsewhere, but modern stores keep brand names in stock and meticulously design the store layout to steer customers toward impulse buys.

That's not to say that dollar stores don't have their share of the bizarre. A recent trip to Family Dollar turned up "Bloopers!" irregular underwear, generic pregnancy tests and "Burn That Fat!" fruit punch.
And there are plenty of products that sound suspiciously similar to familiar brand names, such as the Fruit Loops cereal clone "Fruitangy Oh's" or "Dr. Topper," a soft drink which apparently attended the same school of soda medicine as its more well-known cousin, Dr. Pepper.

But the all-time king of product cloning has to be the Euro Design Collection, a line of perfume on sale for three bucks a bottle at Dollar General. Euro Design takes a thesaurus-based approach: Eternity becomes "Forever," Tommy Hilfiger's Tommy Girl translates to "Jonny Gal" and Calvin Kelin's Contradiction might smell a little like "Controversy."

Though some might find it embarrassing if a house guest opened a medicine cabinet and discovered a secret stash of Jonny Gal, Lisa Gombeda isn't one of them. She sees no shame in using generic brands. "They work just as well as the expensive brands," said Gombeda, an assistant manager at Dollar General. Asked whether the same was true of Dr. Topper, she shrugged her shoulders and said she steers clear of colored soda. Rita Libonati, 63, shops at Dollar General at least once a week and loves stocking up on two-for-a-buck greeting cards. "At 50 cents, you can't go wrong," she said.

There are two kinds of dollar stores. Those with a fixed price, such as Dollar Tree, with headquarters in Chesapeake, Va., and the Philadelphia-based Dollar Express. These stores sell everything for a dollar. Other stores, such as Dollar General from Nashville and Family Dollar, based in Charlotte, N.C., don't stick to a fixed price. These stores offer cut-rate merchandise, usually for about a dollar, but prices can be as high as $17.99 for an iron or $19.99 for a pair of work boots.

The "dollar" in the name is "symbolic of it being a good value for your dollar," said Family Dollar spokeswoman Florence Stanley. Household cleaners, detergents, food and paper products are among the biggest sellers, but they also have low profit margins, said George Mahoney, an executive vice president at Family Dollar. The company counts on customers picking up an extra item or two with higher profit margins after being lured into the cozy environment by brand names and necessities sold cheap.

The money made on pet toys and accessories, for example, more than makes up for the paltry profit margin on pet food. "It's very important to manage that mix of merchandise to generate profit on your sales," Mahoney said.

And where else but in a dollar store are you likely to find a cute, bear-shaped honey bottle sharing counter space with a can of Spam? Or "Champ," the generic Spam clone, offered at half the cost.
Which makes it cost, not surprisingly, a buck.

Sidebar

Forget Healthy Eating as a Dollar Store Shopper

Can a family of five survive by shopping exclusively at local dollar stores? That answer depends on whether you ask me or my kids. Considering the seemingly endless array of candy, soda, chips and other snack foods found during a tour of the area discount stores, my kids would probably have no problem imagining this as their permanent diet. I, on the other hand, would have some qualms.
There's peanut butter and jelly, but no bread. No frozen or dairy foods of any kind. Forget fresh fruits or veggies. Same with meat. Unless, of course, your family has a craving for something called "potted meat," which seems to be a dollar store inventory requirement.

Our dog Tyson, on the other hand, would have a full belly, plus enough doggie toys to keep him occupied until his $2 leash gave way. My kids would also rave about the rows of toys at these dollar stores. Although I'm sure their joy would be short-lived once they realized the lifespan of the $1 dart gun.

Our family would fare pretty well as far as non-food necessities, though. Cleaning items and paper products are plentiful (although one store sold toilet paper in puzzling tiny rolls). No shortage of health and beauty items on the shelves, either. I also found lots of school supplies and books including a surprising number of children's books with religious themes.

One item that's sure to be a hot seller: $5 clear backpacks, which conform to the Hazleton Area School District's new dress code policy. If I had any kids still in diapers, I'd be in luck although at $3.99 for a pack of the generic variety, I'm not sure the prices are much lower than at other stores.
Baby doll diapers, however, are an economical $1 a pack..

In the end, I plan on taking advantage of the discount prices on cleaning items, but I think I'll save my grocery shopping for the supermarket. I'm just not adventurous enough to chance the potted meat.