Dollar store shopping: bargain or marketing ploy?
Filed under: Bargains, Food, Recession
According to a recent Nielsen survey, savvy recessionistas now shop at dollar stores. Wanting to be savvy, I journeyed to the nearest Dollar Tree, which makes me sound like a character in a fairy tale:"And there, Marco the Scribe found a magnificent tree and it was blooming money..."
My initial impression was to be impressed at how much you could buy for a buck: a shower curtain, a dog dish, safety goggles, a soap dispenser. "How can these stores stay in business?" I thought.
Upon further inspection -- and a comparison shop at Albertsons -- I began to see the answer: most of the merchandise is Stuff That's Too Small and You Don't Want Anyway.
For instance, I performed a highly scientific taste test of Home Style Select potato chips verus Lays, discovering that the former was like bad sex: limp, oily and over too soon. A truly bad Lay.
And when I did find a name brand, I discovered that the reduced cost came from the reduced size. For instance, there's no value in buying an 8-ounce bottle of Pace Picante Sauce for a dollar when you can get 16-ounces elsewhere for $2.
WalletPop did some earlier comparisons here, which show the benefits of buying in bulk at discounters like Costco.
Still, I decided to see if I could prepare an entire meal from the Dollar Tree, so I bought a can of Del Monte Meat Sauce, supplemented it with a jar each of marinated mushrooms and red peppers, then served it over Perfect Blend spaghetti. Dinner for four for $4.
That is, assuming you like bad food. Indeed, both the mushrooms and red peppers represented a new culinary concept--flavorless cuisine--while the texture of the spaghetti brought back fond childhood memories of eating paste. And, while there was no discernible meat in the Del Monte Meat Sauce, the sauce part was, well, sauce.
I did find a few bargains. At the Dollar Tree, you can get four AA batteries for a buck versus eight at Albertson's for $6. That's 25 cents per battery instead of 75. And LA's Totally Awesome Laundry Detergent cleaned my clothes just fine, and I, like, totally love the name.
Finally, I couldn't tell the difference between the rolled wafer cookie Piroulines at the Dollar Tree or Pepperidge Farm's Pirouettes from Albertson's. The Pepperidge Farm are 24 for $3.49 versus 10 for $1, essentially 14 cents per cookie versus 10. Most importantly, the reduced size meant I only ate 10 in one sitting as opposed to the 24 I ordinarily would have.
And that, my friends, is The Upside.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-05-2009 @ 10:27AM
flora goldman said...
Wy did you not buy a loaf of known brand bread for a buck. What about brand name toiletries, or school supplies, or brand name candy or or or or. Evidently, you do not know how to really shop. Better to send your wife or girlfriend, and then see how much money you could save. P.S. I don't own stock in the company nor do I work there. I just need to stretch my dollar.
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10-05-2009 @ 1:24PM
Gina said...
If you have never shopped dollar stores before you must learn the lesson I did. THEY ARE NOT ALL CREATED EQUALLY.
Dollar Tree works on smaller sizes of products at reduced prices, not really such a bargain unless you are traveling and want to lighten your load with small shampoo, etc.
Whereas Dollar General and Family Dollar actually have full size products as a whole at a cheaper price.
If you are going to check out dollar stores, Marco, it is only fair to check all of them. Otherwise your shopping is defunct.
Thanks for trying anyway.
Gina
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10-05-2009 @ 5:57PM
*~*nina*~* said...
Looking for ways to save? Please visit my blog for tips daily at http://diyentrepreneurgirl.blogspot.com/ promise no trips to the dollar store necessary :]
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10-06-2009 @ 10:01AM
Mike said...
You can tell the guy has never shopped @ a dollar store before. He says that he felt like a fairy tale by shopping @ Dollar Tree... I can't stand these AOL reporters that have little or no experience @ what they are writing about, & then try to acty like some kind of expert. Dollar stores are a way of life for some people because that is what they can afford. Others shop there because they are smart to shop around & find the best deals. Dollar stores beat out Wal-mart any day!
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10-06-2009 @ 3:37PM
Jackie said...
You should shop at Dollar General or Family Dollar. Their prices on cleaning supplies and toilitries are excellent, plus they carry name brand clothing! If you're going to write a review, go to more than one store.
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10-06-2009 @ 5:28PM
shannon brazil said...
Oh, Flora... a vagina doesn't guarantee the ability to bargain shop. If it did my husband, Mary, and I would have much more disposable income.
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10-06-2009 @ 6:59PM
Mr. Ghandinot said...
Dollar(Dot) Tree is probably owned by Habdidahs who would sell there own Sh!t for a buck. I do find good bargins at Family Dollar And Dollar General. Another great place for $1.00 Zone values at Weis Markets in the Northeast. Full-size cleaing products for a $1.00.
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10-06-2009 @ 8:00PM
shirley said...
Flora...you need to find a Dollar Parlor that sells gaydar and go buy some girl!
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10-06-2009 @ 9:50PM
Ms. Coupon Queen said...
Maybe you only need 8 oz of Pace Picante Sauce..why not pay $1 instead of $2 for the 16oz. I only buy what I need. There is nothing wrong with the Dollar Tree. However, to get the best bargains you have to shop around. The only problem I have with Dollar Tree is that they do not accept coupons..lol. Dollar General and Family Dollar finally got on the ban wagon and started to accept coupon...which is really awesome!!
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10-17-2009 @ 11:04AM
JoJo said...
A word to the wise shopping at any dollar store when it comes to food product. READ WHERE THE PRODUCT WAS MADE. Most of the stuff they sell is made in China (yeah, yeah...like everywhere else) but I have a problem buying ANYTHING that I consume made in China...they have "issues" with how their food is raised (fish are raised in sewer/waste water...yum) not to mention the lead and other assorted goodies they have slipped into dog and baby food items that were lethal.
Another thing to look at on the label is the phrase "Distributed by..." I bought some marshmallows last year at Walmart for my Christmas baking and I tasted one. Nasty. Tried a bite of a second one. Still nasty. Gave one to my son to make sure it wasn't just my taste buds. Nasty. I returned them. Even the opened bag. Think about it. Legally, the marshmallows could have been made in China, shipped in large bags to a "distributor" where they were packaged into the smaller 10-16 oz bags.
I have seen this distributed by on more and more food products and I won't buy them. I should contact the company and find out where the country of origin is. I wouldn't doubt for a second that it's China. Now that Boxer and Feinstein voted to keep the water turned off to the San Joaquin Valley (they grow over 30% of the nation's food) and have turned it into a desert (I just found out that we're being forced to import more food from China!! The USA IMPORTING FOOD!!)
Wake up people before it's too late.
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