Dollar stores are a strange concept. How can everything in a store be so cheap, and how do they stay in business?
Continue reading to learn 10 interesting facts about dollar stores.
10. There Are a Lot of Them
Did you know that the two biggest dollar chains have more stores combined than the six biggest U.S. retailers put together? Yep, it’s true. And, they haven’t finished growing yet! The number of U.S. dollar stores reached 30,000 in 2016 (up 25% from 2011) and is expected to reach nearly 38,000 this year.
In fact, nearly one in three new stores opening in the U.S. is a Dollar General. What’s more is that Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar will make up almost half of all the new stores opening up in the U.S. this year.
9. They Make a Lot of Money
Dollar stores make a LOT of money. In fact, they make billions. In 2018, Dollar Tree made $22 billion in revenue. In July 2019, Dollar General’s stock was worth $36.5 billion. Fast forward to 2020, Dollar Tree and Dollar General alone made $51.4 billion in revenue.
But, how exactly do these stores make so much money when they only charge a few bucks for their products? The answer is simple: many of the products sold at these chains aren’t bargains at all. Many products are actually less of a bargain than the larger, more expensive versions sold at other stores.
For example, you can get 16 ounces of milk at a dollar store for just $1. But, you can get a gallon of milk from other stores for just one or two dollars more than that. You’d have to purchase eight of those 16-ounce jugs just to equal one gallon (128 ounces) of milk. That means you’d end up spending $8 for a gallon of milk at a dollar store!
