Dollar Stores Rock

I don’t recall writing about this before but if I have it’s time for a repeat. I went to Dollar Tree today to get a couple of cards. I don’t usually buy cards but a friend had a death in her family and a card is in order. So I’m searching the cards and figured I’d only find one or two but I actually found so many that I had to read many of them before I could choose. I picked two and headed to the register, picking up a soda along the way. The cashier took my items, rung them up, and charged me $2.22. That seemed low to me but I didn’t question it.

I got in the van and looked at the receipt. Everything in Dollar Tree is only $1.00 or less regardless of any price that may be stamped on it. The cards I bought each had a printed price of over $2.00 on the back – one was about $2.25 and the other was $2.75, if I recall correctly. Anyway, the receipt showed that each card was only $.50. Cool; I always love a good bargain. Now here’s where my issue arrives. If Dollar Tree can charge me $.50 for a card that has a retail price of $2.75, why can’t everyone else do the same thing?

Dollar Tree is obviously making money or there wouldn’t be thousands of stores across the country. Granted, not everything in the store is superior quality, and I don’t go there to buy anything that I plan on keeping forever, however, I do a good bit of shopping there and have never really been disappointed with any of my purchases. They’ve got kitchen items, paper goods, party supplies, food, and a whole lot of other things that we use on a daily basis. They’ve even got Mylar occasion balloons that most of us pay a couple of dollars for in a regular party supply store. At Dollar Tree they’re only $1.00 each. Imagine that.

Now, my favorite discount store is Dollar General. When I was in MO I shopped there all the time. All the employees knew me, and the kids. I did a lot of shopping there for almost anything I needed. The closest Dollar General to me know is over in Union City, NJ, about 75 miles west of me. Obviously, I’m not driving that far for a bargain. So the next best thing for me is Dollar Tree. I tried Family Dollar but some of their prices are almost as high as Walmart (whose prices are getting higher and higher all the time), Kmart, or any other place out there. I only shop there occasionally.

Still, my question is, if Dollar Tree can sell common items for a dollar, why in the world are other stores allowed to overcharge for the exact same things? It just doesn’t make sense, does it? Now, the selection in Dollar Tree isn’t always the greatest, they don’t have dozens of the same item to choose from, but they always have what I need, when I need it.

In a pinch, I’ve run there to pick up mac & cheese for dinner, boxes are less than $1.00 each; the other day I bought brand-named pasts sauce there for $1.00 for the large jar, not a miniature; I buy large packages of napkins there, I buy wrapping paper, gift items, snacks for the kids, socks, hair care items and lots of other things – and I save money doing it. Why would I go to the supermarket and pay $3.00 or more for the same sauce I bought at Dollar Tree? Napkins just get thrown away so I’m not spending $4.00 on a package of them when I can buy two packages at Dollar Tree for half the price.

I think it’s a real shame that retailers are taking such advantage of us just to make money – especially with the economy the way it is. They’re not into helping anyone, I can tell you that. I applied for a job at Walmart a couple of months ago and they called me last week for an interview. After all was said and done they wanted to pay me $8.90/hr for a part-time position. That’s a whopping $1.65 over the minimum wage and I’ve got experience as a cashier in a retail setting. That wage wouldn’t pay for the before and after care I’d have to put the kids in just to work for Walmart. They want to pay me barely anything to work for them, but they’re not above overcharging me for any item I purchase, right?

Maybe if we all just started shopping at dollar stores for a while, and stopped shopping anywhere else, many places would bring their prices down to a reasonable amount. It’s a nice idea but I doubt I could get enough people to actually participate to make a difference. So many people are just stuck on getting what they always get from where they always get it. “Oh, I can’t buy my toilet paper from the dollar store; I’ve just got to have Angel Soft and they don’t carry that brand at Dollar Tree.” So what? Use something less expensive for a while by buying it at a dollar store and maybe, just maybe, Kmart won’t continue charging $9.00 for twelve rolls of Angel Soft.

No, you can’t buy milk or bread at Dollar Tree, but you can buy them at Family Dollar and Dollar General; and I’m sure at other dollar stores that I don’t even know exist. I’m not saying we ought to do every single bit of our shopping at dollar stores, but if we spent a few months buying our most common items there, the larger retail chains would have to lower their prices just to get our business back. It’s worth a shot, but, again, I doubt too many people would even do it.

So, I guess I’m just stuck complaining about it and I’ll just continue saving my money where I can and I’ll let everyone else do what they choose to do. But, hey, don’t complain to me when you spend too much on something that I got at the bargain price of $1.00. Until we can all agree not to overspend, the large retailers will continue ripping us off every chance they get. I’m just one person, so I’ll do my thing and everyone else can do theirs. Maybe someday we’ll have a meeting of the minds. Until then I’m going to Dollar Tree every chance I get; until I recruit Dollar General to open stores on Long Island, that is.

Until next time…peace to all.