Dollar Tree Now Charging More Than $1 for Items

If they bring back the pound cake for $2, will you still buy it?

They should charge whatever necessary to 1) give the customer a good quantity at a decent value and 2) still make a profit. It's silly to sell complete garbage or tiny quantity to keep it at a dollar.

R1

Mayam? MA'YAM!

I hope they don't raise their prices on lobster egg rolls and Arizona nachos trays.

[quote] It's silly to sell complete garbage or tiny quantity to keep it at a dollar.

Um...that's its very very successful business model

Well it's not sustainable, sweetie.

R7, it's sustained them quite well over the last decade and they continue to grow.

Dollar Tree was very specifically the one dollar store where everything really was $1. Many of the other stores like Family Dollar have offered things for $2 or $3 for a while now, and apparently make more money than the $1-only stores. It sounds like the $1-only model is sustainable but the company wants bigger profits.

No skin off my ass, r2. I've moved on.

Bring back the "5 and 10". But make it 5 dollars to 10 dollars.

And with a soda fountain serving a good 5 dollar burger.

Don't forget the insipid orangeade, r11!

I did the grocery shopping today and topped off the car's tank. Price jumps each time I go and no end in sight.

Stagflation like Jimmy Carter

Welp, looks like this will be the beginning of the end. What people love about the store is that everything is a dollar or two for a dollar and you don’t have to worry about looking at prices. Now it’s slowly going to turn into a Dollar General where everything is either the same price as Walmart or more.

If inflation proceeds over the next few years as expected, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Treasury brings back $2 bills (which never exactly went away, but have never really been used for anything besides stuffing in cards to kids).

I also expect a bimetallic $2 coin like Canada's that's explicitly designed to look as DISSIMILAR to past $1 coins (which were always too much like quarters for anyone's comfort) as possible.

Then, we'll see a spate of $1+$2=$3 stores, where everything is $1, $2, or $3.

The whole "dollar store" category emerged because we went through almost 20 years with inflation that was held in check mostly by shifting nearly all production from the US to China, and by chains like Walmart that were able to aggressively cut and control costs via large-scale vertical integration. China's manipulation of its own currency effectively subsidized American consumers, too. Now that most of the surplus has been absorbed by China, inflation is inevitable again... with covid-related shortages pouring gas onto the fire.

That said, 1970s-style inflation (with prices soaring literally week by week) is unlikely. One thing that stoked inflation in the 1970s was the perception that EVERYTHING was constantly going up in price, with nothing to restrain those prices. Stores would just automatically jack up prices for every new shipment, because their wholesalers did it too, and other stores did the same thing. In contrast, we now have Amazon to partially keep local stores honest. Amazon could raise prices too... but Amazon is big enough to hold price increases to semi-arbitrary levels and take away HUGE amounts of business from them if they get TOO sloppy about indiscriminately raising prices. That's a check & balance that didn't exist back in the1970s.

I honestly think the Treasury's main concern about pushing $2 bills/coins is that it probably WOULD unleash a wave of price hikes almost overnight, doubling the cost of nearly EVERYTHING that's presently $1 to $2 as the new normal (and a ripple effect on higher prices, though not quite a literal doubling). The price-doubling would probably be mitigated my better quality and larger sizes (so it would be more like a 30-50% price hike when you divided it by unit*quality), but the news would still have endless stories about poor families struggling to make ends meet amidst prices that nominally doubled almost overnight (even IF increased quantity and quality took part of the "edge" off of it).

Anyway, though, that's my prediction: new $2 bills and coins, followed by "dollar stores" becoming "$1+2+3" stores.

It’s been years since I’ve lived in California where they had the 99 cent store. Do those still exist? And is everything still 99 cents?

I’m no snob by any means, but I’ve only gone into the Dollar Store once and was hit by the same Chinese plastic and mold smell that I know from Walmart. Not for me.

R15, most predictions says that inflation will only last a few months. The new bills being discussed in Congress might push it off until the spring but no one is suggesting it will last years.

[quote] I’m no snob by any means, but I’ve only gone into the Dollar Store once and was hit by the same Chinese plastic and mold smell that I know from Walmart. Not for me.

Yeah, what is it about cheap chinese crap and that awful smell?

I'm sorry, dear. Maybe you can try the thrift stores... or pantries?

[quote] It’s been years since I’ve lived in California where they had the 99 cent store. Do those still exist?

Yes

[quote] And is everything still 99 cents?

No

I buy stemware and garbage bags from the Dollar Store. I don't care if my wine glass has a bump around the rim. When it breaks, I don't care because (a) it's not part of a set so no big deal and (b) it was a buck so I don't care. As for garbage bags, why spend $9+ on Hefty garbage bags which are designed to be thrown out anyway when I can buy them for $1?

Central California here. 99 cents only store. Not enough water for big home garden, but get the best melons and cantaloupes there. 1.99 each. They got good deals and not good deals. At the beginning of the pandemic the 99 cent stores actually asked folks to make up, which I thought was great in this republicunt town.

R15 Treasury won't innovate because too many lobbyists have the ears of the government.

We make pennies that cost more than they're worth to satisfy copper miners and others (since a copper alloy or mix is used now).

I meant mask up!

r24, the Treasury has contemplated a larger-denomination bimetallic coin for at least 25 years (when Canada made its $2 coin).

From what I've read, the big disagreement is whether it should be $2 or $2.50... $2 looks "neater", but $2.50 is probably closer to the price street vendors would charge for a 20oz drink, hot dog, popcorn, or slice of pizza (and therefore, one coin == 1 food-unit).

I bought 3, one pound bags of pink Himalayan sea salt at the dollar tree yesterday. Same one is a Walmart for $5.

"Anyway, though, that's my prediction: new $2 bills and coins, followed by "dollar stores" becoming "$1+2+3" stores."

R15, your predictor is broken, to put it mildly. They're never bringing back the $2 bills. Regarding your second prediction-- there are already $1-2-3 dollar stores and there have been for many years now. That's what Five Below is, as well as Daiso.

Sorry to sound stupid but does 'Dollar Tree' include US sales tax in the $1 shelf price?

I can never get my head around being charged more than the advertised price, does it happen anywhere outside the US?

Family Dollar has never been a $1 only store. Many things are over $1. I've been buying cat food, dog food and cat litter there for several years. The prices there are about 2/3 of the price at the grocery store, for the same brand and size items.

I got Shirley Maclaines daughters book at the Dollar Tree. They used to have great finds there.

I miss their chicken pot stickers and student lamps

How often does one buy a "student lamp"?

When they are a dollar you stock up on them. 💵

Name change possiblities:

The Tree

Dollars Tree

Dollar$

Dollar T'aint

Dollar* Tree

*Figuratively speaking.

"Now that most of the surplus has been absorbed by China, inflation is inevitable again... with covid-related shortages pouring gas onto the fire. "

Do you think manufacturers of basically everything will milk "shortages" and "supply chain issues" to no end to get people to pay more. People are getting used to less inventory, delays, higher prices. I don't see things going back to "normal." The biggest example is probably vehicle sales where almost all vehicles usually sold below sticker but now the discounts are far less or non-existent. I can seem them playing the "chip shortage" card beyond the time when there's more than enough chips.

But how will people afford these cars and trucks then when income isn't expanding. Even LONGER loan terms of course. We've already blown by the traditional 3 or 4 year car loan, then 5 (60 months) was the limit of a "normal" loan term. But then it went crazy with 72 and 84 month financing and I can see it going every further. Many people are concerned about their monthly payment first and foremost. And a longer term allows "reasonable" payments even if the overall financing is a terrible deal.

Trader Joe's raised prices on everything excluding bananas, 15%

Traitor Joe's!

(Not a) Dollar Tree

😥 😥 😥 😥

the Only 99 Cents store has been selling items up to $9.99 for years now and it totally transformed their offerings. There's still plenty of items at .99 but its great because there are so many low cost items that cost about $1 wholesale that are priced 10x as much in retailers--this allows dollar general to offer those products at $2 or $3 and make a nice profit too.

I kind of like how Dollar Tree was limited to $1 items. The fact is, the Dollar Tree by my house is literally at the opposite end of the same plaza as Five Below, so between the two, the bases are covered.

Dollar Tree is GREAT for throw-away shit. When Hurricane Irma was approaching, I was able to go to Dollar Tree and stock up on spatulas, knives, serving spoons, and other assorted utensils that I could just use once and throw away after the meal instead of leaving them to rot & fester in the sink as biohazards (or rust in a bucket filled with disinfectant) during the 5 days the power was out and I couldn't use the dishwasher.

Sure, I could have bought plastic "disposable" items from Walmart... but why, when I can buy METAL ones from Dollar Tree that were actually CHEAPER?

Ditto, for their "paint roller and tray" kits, which REALLY came in handy when I was auditioning color samples on a wall before deciding what color to paint it. It was literally cheaper to buy ~15 of their roller+tray+brush packs for $1/each than to screw around with Home Depot's official tiny roller+tray combos (and refill packs) .

I don't like poor people

Well, smell r44.

I think this will hurt them. They've done well due to everything truly being a dollar. If it's not, why bother going there? You can go to any cheap box store at that point.

R30, Family Dollar also sells "Girl Scout Cookies". They're not the official ones obviously but they're virtually identical at a fraction of the price and available year round.

Are they made from real Girl Scouts, r47?

[quote]As for garbage bags, why spend $9+ on Hefty garbage bags which are designed to be thrown out anyway when I can buy them for $1?

Won't the neighbors whisper about your sub-standard garbage bags? You'll be the laughingstock of the block!

[quote] Sorry to sound stupid but does 'Dollar Tree' include US sales tax in the $1 shelf price? I can never get my head around being charged more than the advertised price, does it happen anywhere outside the US?

Every state (and even many localities within a state) has a different sales tax rate, and applies it to different items. No sales tax at all in Oregon; in California they don't tax most food or prescriptions. Virginia taxes EVERYTHING.

I guess this will ruin the joke about the cashier at Dollar Tree who kept asking for a price check.

They'll lose business over this. DT gets the same made-in-a-Chinese-sweatshop garbage that everyone else gets, it's just $1. Take that away and why would anyone go there?

The DTs in my area are total dumps. I never understood the appeal.

Maybe now they can afford clean up their disgustingly filthy stores?

Walmart stole the famous smiley face for their rollback prices and their logo is a spark, i.e. butthole. Dollar Tree should have a new logo and ad campaign. Perhaps a barren tree or a poor slob with empty pockets.

Gursky

It was an activist shareholder asshole who aggressively pushed for this change at Dollar Tree. I have to say, the fun of Dollar Tree is that it was the last chain dollar store. The 99 Cents Only store was amazing back when everything was 99 cents but now it is just a Big Lots Jr.

an odyssey...

I really love Family Dollar and Dollar General. They have weird cheap stuff.

This guy managed to do a keto haul at Dollar Tree

Was there ever a period (1960s? 1970s? 1980s?) where "five and dime" stores mutated into "quarter" stores? Or did 1970s hyperinflation happen too quickly & cause things that USED to cost a nickel or a dime to blow past 25c and just keep going, until they were too expensive to sell for a quarter, but not quite valuable enough to merit a whole dollar?

Thinking back to my own childhood (I was born in 1970), it seemed like NOTHING (besides stale gum from old gumball machines) was LITERALLY a penny, nickel, dime, or quarter. From what I recall, the 70s were the era when literally EVERYTHING at stores like Kmart and Zayre had prices ending with "9", like 39c, 69c, 79c, and 89c... with 39c tending to be the cheapest price you EVER saw on an individual price tag (lower than that, they quoted the price as multiple for some higher price, like 2 for 69c, or 3/$1)

Dollar General had a voodoo doll last week, they did.

In my state I have NEVER seen fresh produce at these stores. Perhaps there is some law.

Frozen, OK. "Fresh," hmmm...

Jack's in Manhattan used to be amazing. They carried brand name items and fresh brand name food on the first floor, all for $1.00, now they seem to sell mostly garbage. These days, you'd be hard pressed to find the types of quality items Jack's initially carried, let alone, for only $1.00. I used to buy the an organic bread, which was sold at GNC for $6 a loaf, for just $1.

I happened to be around that area a few months ago, the only bargain I did find at Jack's was the Yoplait Oui yogurt, 2 for $1. Most of the food items appeared to be priced similar to supermarket prices.

Dollar Trees seem to vary quite a bit. The one in my town doesn't have any refrigerated or frozen food, but the one in the next town over does.

Undercutting the Girls Scouts is a low point in the race to the bottom.

There goes Christmas.

r59, I would say it must have been the 1950s when 5 and 10 cents wasn't enough for what was being sold. Sam Walton ran a five and dime stores at first but by 1962 with the first Walmart he already knew stores had to abandon five and dime pricing and go to simple discounts.

My local 99-cent store has been known as "The $1.29 and Up Store" for about two years.

The Food Shortages are already here. When you see a bare shelf at the supermarket---that is the definition of a food shortage. You are paying more for less food. And a lot of poor people will be struggling with skyrocketed gas bills this winter. This country is becoming like Russia--where the RICH are fine and the middle class and poor struggle.

[Quote]I bought 3, one pound bags of pink Himalayan sea salt at the dollar tree yesterday. Same one is a Walmart for $5.

What does one do with 3 lbs of trendy pink salt?

Make *lots* of relief maps, r68.

Well I heard everything in the store will be $1.25 by the end of the week.

Today I saw something that I hadn't seen in years, but had completely forgotten about : the labels of some Hormel products had bold yellow stripes around the top of the cans that read 39 cents off instant coupon. Remember when grocery products used to have labels advertising things like 10¢ off and similar?

R68. I use it. I put it in an airtight container and it will last for years.

Which products at Dollar Tree are more than a buck now? Spill, bitches!

Oh, dear!

[italic]I can’t live like this!

The end of civilization.

Not sure how true this is but I've been hearing about this for nearly a decade now. Supposedly certain items will ring up as a penny at Dollar General and the cashiers have to honor it if that happens. From the sound of things, it's namely stuff the employees were supposed to remove from the shelves, like seasonal merchandise or expired items. I've never tried it - I'd rather hold on to my dignity, but there are actual phone apps and web sites to assist with doing this.

r77, Home Depot does something like that occasionally with their clearance merchandise. They'll have some random item with a barcode, but no price, on the 'clearance' rack. If you try scanning it with the phone app, it says "not found", or "not available at this store" (and in either case, gives no insight into the price). But if you take it up to the front and scan it at the register, one of two things will happen:

* It'll have some utterly and completely ABSURD price that's something like 5% off the original price. This happens about 80-90% of the time

* It'll ring up for some absurdly LOW price, like 17c. This happens about 10-20% of the time.

The thing that sucks is, there's no real way to find out the price without investing a lot of time and effort. The self-service registers won't allow you to do price lookups, so you HAVE to wait in line 20 minutes for one of their 2 or 3 actual human cashiers, then endure their scowl and annoyance when you tell them you don't want it because it rang up at the expensive price rather than the dumpster-bound price. If you're nice, they'll usually sigh, because they know all about Management's nutty clearance-pricing strategy (with silent markdowns to almost-nothing a few weeks before they have someone go through the clearance rack and literally toss things in the dumpster, preceded by prices that are SO outrageously high, it's obvious they don't actually WANT anyone to buy it, and would RATHER throw it in the dumpster than risk having it cannibalize a more lucrative sale).

Lowe's has similar crazy pricing for clearance items, with a twist... they'll put actual price tags on clearance merchandise with prices that, like Home Depot, are absurdly expensive for clearance merchandise... but once again, if you take it to an actual register, something tagged as $12.88 might ring up for 17 or 87 cents. Scanning it with the phone app inevitably shows it as either "out of stock" or "unavailable", even though you're obviously holding it in your hand. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Lowe's actually has a scheme that uses the "cents" value to encode the date when something is supposed to get pulled from the shelf and thrown in the dumpster, and having something ring up for pennies basically means you got to it before the associate tasked with throwing it away did.

[quote]Well I heard everything in the store will be $1.25 by the end of the week.

I stopped by my local Dollar Tree the other day, almost everything is now $1.25. Some old woman was screaming at the young guy cashier, I felt so bad for him, "WHY IS EVERYTHING NOW $1.25?? THIS IS RIDICULOUS, I"M ON A FIXED INCOME!!" He told her to "Please calm down, I didn't change the prices, I have NOTHING to do with that, contact the corporate office and COMPLAIN!"

Imagine working for shit wages and then have some old poor person scream at you because some already rich CEO and shareholders want MORE money? There is no other reason these types of stores are rising prices. Costco's prices have remained stable, only a few items have higher prices.

I live in rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, not just poor people shop at DT., anyone trying to save on their bills shops there. Rents in my area start at around $1,500 for a small crappy one bedroom. There are also now $1-2 million dollar co-ops on the waterfront.

A lot of the DT food was still $1.00. The ramen and the Goya beans were still $1.00. I also saw some savvy shoppers using coupons!

Dollar Twenty-Five Tree

We no longer buy Goya, r79.

Dollar-ish Tree

I will still take two greeting cards for $1.25 rather than one for $4.75 at CVS.

Who bumped this, there is a better thread already.

[quote]We no longer buy Goya, [R79].

How wonderful you speak for every gay person! Yes, I know, blah, blah, blah. I know ALL about Goya. I was simply making a POINT about what food brands are still $1 @ Dollar Tree.

Calm down!

[quote]I will still take two greeting cards for $1.25 rather than one for $4.75 at CVS.

The Hallmark and other cards were still $1 for two. Last year they had boxed Christmas cards, they resembled the hand-made type Papyrus cards, these cards were super nice for $1 a box. I assume if DT carries these same cards again this year, the price will be higher.

[quote]We no longer buy Goya,

Oh Boya.

The Hallmark Store right next to my Dollar Tree closed three years ago.

I calmly stated a fact, r85. Did I use all caps or an exclamation point? No I did not. You could obviously use some Miles Nervine.

Face it, either the prices were going to have to go up or the sizes were just going to keep getting smaller.

I bought one of their pound cakes when all the hullabaloo started here about it just to taste test. Good God it was noxious. Took one bite and threw the whole thing in the trash.

Does Dollar Tree sell a good dupe of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540?

Dollar Fifteen Tree doesn't have the same ring.

[quote]Face it, either the prices were going to have to go up or the sizes were just going to keep getting smaller.

What are you talking about? Prices keep going up and the sizes STILL keep getting smaller anyway! A double ripoff. Just look at bars of soap, candy bars, and snack cakes for example. They keep getting smaller and the price still keeps increasing.

I don't get the uproar over this. They're simply starting to carry some products they otherwise wouldn't have.

R95 Not sure if you missed the updated version of this story, but they’ve now said the majority of their items will be $1.25.

🙉 [italic] Enough you fucking whiners !

Dollar and Quarter Tree

Call it the Euro Tree. Then next year after more inflation, the Pound Tree.

In London there are stores similar to Dollar Tree called PoundLand.

I went to a sexclub in Brixton called Poundland.

R100 And Germany has Euroshops.

I still laugh when I think of the day I was in a Dollar Tree years ago and this idiot woman came up to the check out as I was paying and asked "do you carry electric razors?". Before the DT employee could say a word I looked at the idiot woman and said "FOR A DOLLAR?" & laughed. The checker just said "no ma'am we don't". The fool woman was clearly mad that DT didn't carry electric razors, and walked out. Everyone in the checkout line started laughing and I said to the cashier "idiots are just all over the place these days".

R96, I hadn't yet when I posted that, but I did just find out about it now.

It's kind of odd for them to more or less tarnish their brand with this announcement. Dollar Tree owns Family Dollar now. Family Dollar obviously charges more than $1 for most of their items, but Dollar Tree was specifically known for charging only $1 per item. I think it would have been smarter for them to simply change some of the products they offered.

[quote] Some old woman was screaming at the young guy cashier, I felt so bad for him, "WHY IS EVERYTHING NOW $1.25?? THIS IS RIDICULOUS, I"M ON A FIXED INCOME!!"

This annoys the crap out me, and I am on a fixed income and Social Security recipients get an increase every year, it isn't a lot but it is an increase. If you are retired and not working you have the ability and the time to work part time and increase that "fixed income", most on a "fixed income" have investments. You know who was on a "fixed income" until recently, people working and making minimum wage.

Name it, Dollar and Quarter Tree. Or Five Quarters Tree.

I 💘 Dollar Tree

[quote]I calmly stated a fact, [R85]. Did I use all caps or an exclamation point? No I did not. You could obviously use some Miles Nervine.

And, you Sir, need one good swift kick in your flat unappealing ass!

Good Day!

[quote]I don't get the uproar over this. They're simply starting to carry some products they otherwise wouldn't have.

This is not true at all. DT's products are the same exact products they carried since they changed their name from DEALS to DT.

DT have NOT added any new products or have started carrying larger sizes of their regular products, you obviously have never shopped there

DT have simply started charging MORE for the SAME EXACT products.

Do you have problems with comprehending what you read? Is English your second language?

25 cents is a 25 percent price increase. Trader Joe's has raised prices 15%, heading to WHOLE FOODS pricing

Why I simply won't stand for it.

that's why they have those scooters.

A store is not a charity.

Long before I landed employment as a Certified Village Covid Tracer, do you have any idea how long it took me to earn 25¢ ?

Seriously, an across-the-board hike to $1.25 is HUGE. Even in the 1970s, with out of control hyperinflation, prices didn't go up by 25% fucking OVERNIGHT.

It'll be hard, but I'm swearing off Dollar Tree for a while. If enough people who used to shop there a lot tank their sales badly enough, they'll grit their teeth for a month or three, then announce that the increase was only 'temporary' due to 'market conditions' & go back to being a dollar, even if they have to cut corners on future merchandise to maintain the price point.

Seriously, though, 95% of their stuff isn't WORTH $1.25.

Does Dollar Tree sell nice wine and Godiva chocolates? I need to purchase items for a holiday party. I can afford the .25 increase as long as they carry the items I'm needing.

godiva is sold at dollar 25, small crappy sample size. terrible flavor

maybe they could change the name to Dollars Tree, or even better Quarters Tree, it will work next time they increase the price to $1.50 (6 quarters).

R117 you went to dollar tree for godiva?

Godiva is total garbage. You'll get better flavor from snickers bar.

Raising prices to $1.25 is going to bite them, because it's too big of a jump for long-time customers to accept, and even IF they increase quality & quantity, they won't gain enough new (or more profitable) sales to offset the lost former customers to whom they're now effectively dead.

If they REALLY had to hike prices, they should have raised them from $1 to $1.11, then changed the name to "Dolllar Tree" (get it? Three 'l's in a row)

11c is low enough to ignore, and cute enough to partially forgive. 25c is 'fuck you, go to hell, you're dead to me'.

[quote]then changed the name to "Dolllar Tree" (get it? Three 'l's in a row)

Keep your day job, Shecky.

you are really complaining about twenty-five cents?! go to the food bank.

25 cents is a 25 percent price increase.

People bitching over a 25 cent increase? What is this? 1905?

motherfuckers its 25 percent higher prices. no one shops at a dollar store for superior customer service or experience. you shop because its 1 dollar.

Last week four items were $4.00 now the same items are $5.00.

food bank

Don't forget to add in sales tax.

I don't understand why such poor people don't go to charity food banks and get food stamps. Also, I find it hard to believe that food is really cheaper there. Isn't a bag of potatoes and a bag or rice and a bag of beans, cheap food? And don't you buy them in discount supermarket?

I do appreciate it is 25% hike. But did ALL products go up to 1.25? I understand people being on tight budgets. on the other hand, did customers expect this price to hold for eternity? Time does not stand still. Prices go up over time. That is the way things function. If the CHEAPEST source of food is now something they cannot afford, they need to think of charity-based sources of food. Charity is to help people who struggle. A big chain store IS NOT A CHARITY SHOP.

well let's be honest here, with all those "tasteful friends..." threads on DL, a sizeable portion of DL users shop at Dollar Tree for groceries or necessities, that's why a 25% price hike matters!

Chaos at r125 spends all day on DL purposely misunderstanding every thread he reads, hoping it'll get him attention.

Regarding them as being as good as dead at $1.25 isn't about poverty, it's the fact that at $1.25, they're no longer appealing compared to Walmart.

Consider styrofoam bowls. I use them for cat food. Dollar Tree's bowls are flimsy, but they're a buck. Walmart's are $1.50, but higher-quality. For a 50c/pack difference, I'll go to Dollar tree. For 25c, I won't. Ditto for cheap plastic forks (used for the same cat food). $1 for 48 @ DT? Totally worth the convenience, even if they're too flimsy to use for human meals & suitable only for scooping paté out of cans. Walmart's are $1.50 & higher-quality, but DT's are good enough for what I use them for. At $1.25, I'll say "fuck it" & buy the better forks from Walmart.

Dollar Tree's Dollar prices are literally the only reason anyone in a real city with real stores shops there. Take that away, and Dollar Tree becomes as pointless & futile as Sears' late-90s attempts to sell upscale clothing. Guaranteed, if they go through with this, within 2 years at least 1/3 to 1/2 of their south Florida stores will be closed, and the remainder will be rebranding as Dollar General (or whatever their half-sibling company is), because the DT brand will be ruined.

If you're living alone you often shop at the "dollar" places because they sell stuff in small quantities.

[quote]I don't understand why such poor people don't go to charity food banks and get food stamps. Also, I find it hard to believe that food is really cheaper there. Isn't a bag of potatoes and a bag or rice and a bag of beans, cheap food? And don't you buy them in discount supermarket?

Actually, DT accepts LBT cards, I see people using them there. You can also use manufacturers coupons.

Actually, the food prices are not all that low at DT. The brand name ramen is good for the price, five in a pack for $1.25 and $1 for a dozen eggs is good value. If you are a savvy shopper, you will notice, many of the other food items are cheaper elsewhere, such as the Goya beans, which are 8 cans for $6.99 at Costco. You just have to know what prices and the comparable sizes cost at other stores. This isn't that deep.

Other items at DT are incredibly cheap. A few months ago they had the Colgate 360 toothbrushes, 3 for $1, the 360 line were the same exact toothbrushes sold at Costco, when on sale there, they were six for $8.99. That's a huge difference.

I picked up some official 'Baby Yoda' items at DT, I'm adding them to my nieces and nephews Christmas gifts. While they weren't big plushes or anything you'd find at Target or a toy store, they were official, not Chinese fakes.

I also found some decent hardcover books, I found an Anne Rice book there. DT also had plastic magazine organizers, I keep certain magazines for my design work, I like to keep the mags organized, for a $1 the organizers were sturdy and colorful. The problem is, sometimes DT only carries certain items for a while, then, never again.

Again, if you are not comparing prices, you won't know what's a good deal or not. DT is a fun store, you simply have to figure out what's crap and what isn't.

OK that makes sense. But it doesn't explain the poor "who will now die of starvation" because of the 25% price hike. Its actually about the price people want to pay for crap.

365 styrofoam bowls and plastic forks a year? Does it matter if the price is 25% more? 50% more? More importantly, have you heard about climate change?

[quote]OK that makes sense. But it doesn't explain the poor "who will now die of starvation" because of the 25% price hike. Its actually about the price people want to pay for crap.

The poor won't die of starvation, if they are eligible for certain social service programs and are actually poor, they are already getting LBT cards to purchase their food and are also getting free healthcare. There are also soup kitchens and free food has been distributed through many religious organizations, especially in NYC.

I notice, not everyone who shops at liquidator and DT types stores appears to be poor. Lots of people simply enjoy getting a bargain or what they perceive is a bargain.

I live in a once working class neighborhood which has been slowly gentrifying over the past 20-25 years. The rents are now outrageous in this area, not everyone living in my neighborhood is making a six figure income.

Since gentrification is happening in many former working class neighborhoods, one assumes people who shop at these stores are simply trying to save money on things which are over-priced at other stores. Why pay $5 for a brand name deodorant when DT sells a slightly smaller size of the same brand for $1.25? Other people who shop at these stores are simply cheap misers.

I was in my local diner before the pandemic, in a booth across from me, I saw a very well dressed man order a cup of hot tea with lemon, he asked the waiter for a glass of ice cubes. I watched him create his own glass of iced tea! He allowed the hot tea to cool down, then he poured the tea into the glass of ice cubes, he then squeezed the lemon into the glass and added a packet of Splenda. The hot tea was 75¢, the glass of ice tea would have cost that cheap bastard $1.75. These are the lengths some people go through to save money. I can only imagine the terrible tip this cheap man gave to the waiter. He had a full meal with his 'iced tea'.

^That tea procedure doesn’t sound so bad, R138, and you really don’t know why he did it. It could be because sweet iced tea as typically prepared has tremendous amounts of sugar in it and he wanted a light taste without the calories. Sweetener added to already well-chilled, unsweetened tea won’t dissolve well. Anyway, it seems to me it doesn’t harm you, so why speak so judgmentally of someone you’ll never know?

[quote]^That tea procedure doesn’t sound so bad, [R138], and you really don’t know why he did it. It could be because sweet iced tea as typically prepared has tremendous amounts of sugar in it and he wanted a light taste without the calories. Sweetener added to already well-chilled, unsweetened tea won’t dissolve well. Anyway, it seems to me it doesn’t harm you, so why speak so judgmentally of someone you’ll never know?

Give me a break, that guy did all that to save $1. Actually this dinner is very popular it was voted the best in NYC. This diner has very reasonable prices, a great selection and large portions, there's no reason for some people to be so cheap. That was the first time I'd ever seen someone be so cheap over the cost of a beverage.

Sometimes you see people ask for an extra plate so they can give some of their food to their kids, that's also tacky. Especially as this diner offers a children's menu. They are always happy to give you free aluminum containers so you can take home your uneaten food. They stopped using Styrofoam years ago.

I sometimes order iced when I go to this dinner, the waiter, or waitress, always asks what type of tea would you prefer. This diner is very transparent about offering two types of iced tea, one from a sweetened mix and the other made from freshly brewed tea, which is then chilled, is unsweetened, with a lemon wedge and your choice of sweeteners, which are on the tables, regular sugar or Splenda.

While dining out, I usually don't care what people are doing at other tables, unless they are very loud, nasty to the servers or just plain obnoxious. This man was actually quite rude to the waiter, he was loud and obvious about trying to save one big dollar. If he hadn't been so loud, I wouldn't have noticed what he was up to.

The waiter who was dealing with the Iced Tea Man has been at the diner for years, he absolutely knew what that cheap bastard was up to.

R140 Nothing worse than a cheap bastard and knowing what he's up to. See this behavior would be enough to put me off my food. If someone is that cheap, they should just eat at home.

Oh, please, R140. Give us a break. You sound just as loud, high and mighty as how you’ve portrayed the tea man. Where was all this clarification before? Who knows what really happened, especially from someone who doesn’t know from one sentence to the next that the word is spelled “diner.”

You claim you normally don’t care about what others do, yet you seem to be champing at the bit to judge this person as well as others on certain dining “behaviors.” As I said, if it doesn’t hurt you, who cares? Hope you get a better life for yourself someday.

The tea man! O my lord. I love that. Thanks R142

Listen to R142, first getting his panties in a twist because he felt the need to side with a cheap bastard, then, because my auto correct misspelled the word 'diner' as 'dinner', Mister Way Too-Tight Panties had to make sure to mention a misspelled word, he then went off on me, yet again, for noticing an extremely obnoxious cheap bastard who, btw, made no bones about flashing his big ugly Rolex while trying to save $1 and loudly treating the waiter like trash. I was there, you weren't. I know what what going on. Please, STFU.

Next you'll be telling me, "Iced tea Man was on a special diet, that's why he needed his special tea order." He didn't appear to be on any sort of diet, he loudly scarfed down all of his fattening food.

My life is perfectly fine. Now go fuck off.

I'm pretty sure I dated the Iced Tea Man. He was a lousy fuck and bought my birthday gift from Dollar Tree.

I love the Ice Tea man.

At least you can still go into Dollar Tree without being trampled by looters.

They call me Mr. Tea

There is a lot of the usual snark here but in this country in 2021 there are people where 5 for $5.00 and 4 for $5.00 food items could the difference in eating only 4 days and not 5.

doller tree sells tea, a huge package but it's tasteless stuff. black and green available

First the bitch out the pour cashier at Dollar Tree, then they stiff the waiter. 15%! Hell no! 5% and they better work for it or they'll get nothing. Why should I pay their wage? I LIVE ON A FIXED INCOME, BUD!