Why dollar stores thrive in rural areas - Entrepreneur Generations

Distribution of the 13,601 Dollar General
stores in the U.S. (MarketWatch)

Dollar stores are one of the nation's fastest-growing retail segments, and they're thriving in rural America where big box stores can't survive. But some experts see them as an unsettling signpost about the future of rural America. "Some analysts see their proliferation as a bellwether of a widening gap between economic classes," Jason Nark reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Garrick Brown, director for retail research at commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield, told Bloomberg's Mya Frazier that "Essentially what the dollar stores are betting on in a large way is that we are going to have a permanent underclass in America . . . It’s based on the concept that the jobs went away, and the jobs are never coming back, and that things aren’t going to get better in any of these places."

Rural Pennsylvanians told Nark that stores like Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree fill the need for a grocery store; many rural areas are food deserts. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a rural food desert as a low-income community where at least 500 people and/or at least 33 percent of the census tract's population live more than 10 miles from a supermarket or large grocery store. Rural shoppers may also be attracted by the Dollar Tree's lineup of competitively priced name brand items that normally would only be available at larger stores.

Dollar Tree Vice President Randy Guiler told Nark that saving time is a big factor in why dollar stores are so popular in rural areas, when the nearest big box store could be an hour away. "I think the customer today is time-starved," he said. Dollar stores are "an attractive spot to stop for their fill-in needs. People need items at different times of the week."

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2xRnMnw Why dollar stores thrive in rural areas - Entrepreneur Generations

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