In Biden’s America, You Have To Be Rich To Shop At The Dollar Store

Everyone loves a good dollar store. For middle class Americans, they can be anything from a fun novelty to a practical part of your shopping routine. But as one national dollar store chain pivots to cater to a new influx of six-figure shoppers, they might soon become a luxury you can no longer afford.

For better or worse, dollar stores have become an important feature of American life — particularly in rural areas where e-commerce drops can’t get to you in a matter of hours. They’re smaller and more convenient than running into superstores like Walmart for every little thing. And scaled by a number of chains across the country, they provide deals that mom and pop shops could never afford to offer. You might go for all your pantry staples where the brand name doesn’t matter, or run in for last minute holiday supplies; Easter eggs, anyone? Cheaper household items — cleaners, electronics, clothing and toys — help people maintain a higher standard of living and still keep the lights on. For middle class Americans, dollar stores can be a budget-friendly convenience — but if you’re struggling, they’re critical to your livelihood.

Under President Joe Biden’s dire economic mismanagement, however, the socioeconomic stratification of the dollar store has begun to change.

Just before Easter, Dollar Tree (the nation’s  second largest dollar store chain after Dollar General) announced it would be raising its price ceiling yet again, Yahoo Finance reported. Dollar stores are supposed to sell items for, you know… a dollar. But after raising its prices to a $5-max last June, Dollar Tree CEO Rick Dreiling has now extended that cap to $7 in over 3,000 Dollar Tree locations across the country. The higher cost items will include food, snacks, beverages, pet care, and personal care, Dreiling said in a fourth quarter earnings call. However, he noted that many items would still be offered at lower price points.

For a middle to upper middle class family, this offers more variety at price still well below higher end retailers. But for family on a tight budget, a trip to Dollar Tree might now be even more out of reach.

But that could be by design, given the chain’s burgeoning new demographic.

“[T]he fastest-growing demographic is north of $125,000 a year in income,” Dreiling explained on the call, “which brings a lot more firepower to the store, to be honest with you. And I think —quite honestly, I think that attraction is the multi-price point and the fact that we’ve been able to increase the variety of product in the store. And I think the interesting thing about Dollar Tree, the lift is pretty universal across all the operating markets.”

This comes on top of a rough year for Dollar Tree, with its stock price plummeting 14% following the earnings call. Dollar store chains have faced volatility under the current economic outlook, with their target consumers cutting back on discretionary items and instead buying only the bare necessities. Theft has become a major problem as well. In response, Dreiling said Dollar Tree and its subsidiary Family Dollar will be closing over 1,000 “underperforming stores” as the company pivots toward its new, higher-earner frontier.

So rather than working to find ways to keep prices low and its stores accessible (both geographically and economic) to maintain its traditional customers, the company seems more inclined to write them off. It’s chasing new customers with money to blow.

On the one hand, this speaks to just how dire things are that people making $125,000 or more a year are shopping more frequently at the dollar store. Only a few years ago, this would be considered comfortably upper middle class in most areas of the country, especially for a couple making a combined $250,000 or more. Today — with energy, food, and housing costs skyrocketing — it’s easy to still feel the squeeze in this bracket, particularly as you try to maintain an upper middle class lifestyle. Some Dollar Tree substitutions can help pay for the kids’ piano lessons or the BMW car payment.

These are the affluent, suburban voters that Trump will need to win to take back the White House. They too are turning to dollar stores out of economic strain, rather than for the occasional novelty or convenience. However, unlike struggling families, the $7 price point still falls well within their discretionary spending limit. Load up the trunk, and it’s still cheaper than a quick stop at Trader Joe’s.

So on the other hand, we can’t overlook the forgotten men and women — even as dollar store chains turn away. Having already lost their discretionary budgets, the most vulnerable Americans are now facing additional strain on the necessities as well.

This amounts to the worst of both worlds. Dollar Tree will continue to feed our society’s insatiable need for material consumption, allowing relatively well-off people to buy more poor quality, disposable Chinese crap without rejiggering their budgets altogether. At the same time, they’re departing, or at least diversifying away from, their core social function of providing a basic, first world standard of living for those who can’t afford it anywhere else.