Every town has at least one or more dollar stores in their immediate area – promising lower prices than the ‘bigger’ stores and better quality, too, however, on a recent excursion to one of these ‘discount’ stores I began to wonder, “Are they really worth going to?” Here are three local Dollar Stores in my region and a good rundown of if they are, in my eyes, worth going to.
Dollar Tree
The Dollar Tree’s motto is everything for one dollar and they’re right. No matter what they have in stock, prices are guaranteed to never be over a single dollar per item. Sometimes they have special offers of two for a dollar (such as their canned soups) which make it even more worthwhile in shopping there. These stores tend to have almost anything you’d need – including brand names. Yes, while a lot of stores may sell ‘their brand’ items, Dollar Tree stores tend to aquire real name products on occasion, such as Suave Shampoos and even Dawn Dish Soap on occasion.
While some of the products may be unheard of, they may just be popular brands from another area. This is where I, personally, tend to discover better products on occasion – such as a better smelling kitchen cleaner or even a better boxed brownie mix. The best thing is knowing if it doesn’t work as well as you planned the only investment was one dollar.
However, there is one small downside to the Dollar Tree- the only cold items for sale are 20 ounce bottles of cola. They do not sell cold meats, milk or anything else cold, however they do have canned means such as tuna, chicken and even on a rare occasion imitation crab meat. Also when they do sell clothing in stores, they tend to be more oriented for the under 1 year of age crowd. They also rarely sell big packs of diapers/pullups. They may have sample packs of 3 diapers, but never anything beyond that. However in an emergency they’re well worth it.
All in all I’d highly suggest hitting the Dollar Tree stores if you can, because you can definitely get more for your dollar. Besides, who doesn’t like the ability to find better quality at a much lower price?
Family Dollar stores tend to be excellent to shop at, as well. I, on numerous occasions, have bought clothing for myself or my daughter – the quality is excellent and the prices, while not too much lower than Wal-Mart for example, save you a little cash. Just like Dollar Tree, this store tends to sell almost anything you’d need for home at slightly lower prices than stores. While not as cheap as one dollar for everything, you can find great deals on cereal or even brand name makeups.
These stores, from the ones I’ve been in, also do not sell any cold goods besides soda, but also have many food products at a slightly discounted price from other stores. Such as oreo packages for only two dollars – saving on average at least 50 cents or not more than going elsewhere.
But in some aspects you have to be careful. Sometimes these stores have a tendancy to not check their expiration dates properly and if you don’t check them yourself – you may get something expired. Yes, this includes the cold sodas.
Family Dollar also sells newer laundry products at a very worthwhile price, in fact, I haven’t been able to find a store in the area that can compare to some of their fabric softener prices at all.
One thing I’ve noticed in Family Dollar stores are their prices for certain items are no different than most other stores, which can make you want to be careful and shop around first before settling in on buying anything at these stores.
Dollar General
By far, Dollar General is a huge disappointment in lower prices. While they claim to be lower cost, in most instances they aren’t.
Example. I went shopping in one for christmas, seeking out toys since they do sell barbie’s, bratz.. among other brand name toys. I found an adorable little bratz baby for ten dollars. I didn’t purchase her then and there, instead on my first excursion to K-Mart and Wal-Mart I discovered the same doll for less than eight dollars.
Due to location I tend to buy my cleaning products and animal foods there, however, without so much as realizing it they raised the price of some of the cleaning supplies at least fifty cents. Then not even a week or two later they raised them another quarter. Something that used to cost a dollar now cost $1.75, saving less than twenty five cents than if purchased elsewhere.
While Dollar General also sells clothing and shoes, just like the others, what sizes and styles vary and are often limited depending on location.
The plus side to Dollar General is they do sell milk, frozen foods and even ice cream. However, prices on milk aren’t really that much cheaper than other stores. I’m talking a few cents.
In comparison to the other two stores already mentioned, the Dollar General is least likely to be suggested to others, mainly in part because they do constantly raise prices and ruin the whole point of being a discount store.
While these stores and prices vary depending on location, it’s somewhat sad to see a dollar store raise their prices repeatedly for whatever reasons they may have. One can only shop around first before resorting to some of these stores and hope that they can get the best for their money – either at these stores or in another. Don’t discount every store though just based on a downside. There are some items in these stores that are guaranteed the lowest prices around.
