The dollar store dilemma

Marketplace All-in-One

Marketplace

Business, News

4.5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Several American dollar store chains have been down bad these days. Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and 99 Cents Only have all recently announced store closures. On the other hand, Dollar General is poised to expand. This has us wondering: What’s going on with the dollar store business model? Has today’s inflationary economy broken it? On the show today, Sandro Steinbach, professor of agribusiness and applied economics at North Dakota State University, explains the economics behind dollar stores, how they keep prices so low, and the impact they have on different communities.

Then, we’ll discuss privacy risks while using popular dating apps. And, what the Australian kids’ show “Bluey” can teach us about the economy.

Here’s everything we talked about:

- Video: “How can dollar stores still sell things for a dollar?” from Marketplace

- “Why are discounters like 99 Cents Only Stores in dire straits?” from Marketplace

- “Here’s How Dollar General Keeps Its Prices at Rock-Bottom” from Business Insider

- “The Dollar-Store Showdown Comes Down to Real Estate” from The Wall Street Journal

- “Dollar store expansion and independent grocery retailer contraction” from Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy

- “The American dollar store has fallen on hard times” from CNBC

- “Dating apps are collecting more of your information than you think” from The Washington Post

- “Justice Department Reaches Civil Settlement with Hundreds of Victims Abused by Lawrence Nassar” from the Department of Justice

- “Justice Department settles with Larry Nassar victims for $138.7 million” from The Washington Post

- “Historical U.S. Trade Deficits” from The St. Louis Fed

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone. I'm Kimberly Adams. Welcome back to Make Me Smart where none of us is as
0:11.4	smart as all of us.
0:13.0	And I'm Novasafo.
0:14.0	It's Tuesday, April 23rd.
0:15.6	Today we're diving into a single topic
0:18.0	and that's Dollar Store.
0:19.6	Some are thriving, others struggling.
0:21.9	And you want to know why. what's happening with the dollar store business model?
0:25.8	That's right, we're talking 99 cent stores, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar,
0:30.6	lots of these companies have announced closures in recent weeks, but that's not the case for
0:36.0	competitor Dollar General, and I know all these names are confusing because they're confusing
0:40.9	to me, but that chain, Dollar General, is planning a big expansion.
0:45.9	So what's going on here?
0:47.3	Here to make us smart on the economics behind dollar stores and why it matters is Sandra Steinbach, professor of agribusiness and
0:55.2	applied economics at North Dakota State University. Welcome to the show.
0:59.6	It's a pleasure to be with you today.
1:02.4	So first of all, can you give us a sense of It's a pleasure to be with you today.
1:03.0	So first of all, can you give us a sense of the size of this industry, how many dollar-ish stores
1:10.3	there are and like what chunk of the economy they take up.
1:15.0	Sure. Dollar stores right which involve family dollar, dollar tree, general dollar
1:20.2	ninety-nine cents and the few others that you might have heard or visited in the past are a growing part of the
1:28.1	US retail industry. When it comes to dollar store, there are about $20,000 general and about $16,700, $3 and family dollar actually
	...

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