Ban the Dollar Store? DeKalb County passed a 45-day moratorium on new dollar stores (Atlanta: apartment, lawyer)

[LynnHarris1]

At one intersection in suburban DeKalb County, it takes less than five minutes to walk from the Dollar General to a Family Dollar. Walk another few minutes across Covington Highway, and you’ll hit a Dollar Tree.

That intersection in the Stonecrest area, where three dollar stores exist in a half-mile radius, is a symbol for what some local officials view as a growing problem with the discount stores..."

https://www.ajc.com/news/local/ban-t...JmkCGjuhp22QI/

SOURCE: AJC

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by LynnHarris1

At one intersection in suburban DeKalb County, it takes less than five minutes to walk from the Dollar General to a Family Dollar. Walk another few minutes across Covington Highway, and you’ll hit a Dollar Tree.

That intersection in the Stonecrest area, where three dollar stores exist in a half-mile radius, is a symbol for what some local officials view as a growing problem with the discount stores..."

https://www.ajc.com/news/local/ban-t...JmkCGjuhp22QI/

SOURCE: AJC

I’m not from there but discount stores are fraowned on here too but I like them
We pay too much too often 7 eleven makes a good dollar coffee why pay starbucks

[ATLTJL]

Dollar Tree is the only one of these stores that is a true dollar store. The others are just retailers that happen to have word Dollar in their names.

Ironically, Dollar Tree has the wealthiest customer base of them all. Nobody cares if Dollar Tree opens up, but if you are near a Family Dollar, you are in a poor area. It's not even a discounter. Family Dollar is more expensive than Kroger and has crummier quality. It's a rip off.

[2nd trick op]

Legislation targeting specific persons (or institutions) by name is unconstitutional in most states; so the high-and-mighty in the affected communities get around this obstacle by mandating a square footage of space a small grocery (the mom-and-pop operations so venerated by fake aesthetes) can't justify.

So far so good; but I live with a physical handicap which makes it impossible to walk more than about 200 yards without physical discomfort, and in a community with a population of about 2000 -- too small to sustain a full-service grocery. (The same physical condition also prevents me from driving.)

Thanks, do-gooders, for legislating this customer out of the market in your pursuit of a "sanitized" economy.

[Pemgin]

What do they even sell? A bunch of plastic Chinese crap?

[brownhornet]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Dollar Tree is the only one of these stores that is a true dollar store. The others are just retailers that happen to have word Dollar in their names.

Ironically, Dollar Tree has the wealthiest customer base of them all. Nobody cares if Dollar Tree opens up, but if you are near a Family Dollar, you are in a poor area. It's not even a discounter. Family Dollar is more expensive than Kroger and has crummier quality. It's a rip off.

Theres a family dollar right up the street from Suntrust Park. I doubt anyone would consider that to be a poor area.

[citidata18]

I have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, it definitely sucks for a community to get bogged down with low quality developments. Eventually, it gets to a point where you're stuck in a feedback loop where you can't attract better commerce. And frankly, if I were new to Metro Atlanta and looking for a place to live, I wouldn't want to reside in an area where it appears as though the only option for shopping is Dollar General.

On the other hand, there are people in these communities who are extremely grateful for these stores to shop at, as obviously no other retailers are willing to invest in these communities and not everyone has the ability to travel to (or even can afford) stores like Publix. Also, these discount stores do at least pay property taxes.

[ATLTJL]

The issue is these stores sell food. They serve communities traditional grocers aren't interested in touching. The problem is, they sell mostly prepackaged foods with little to no healthy options like fresh produce. When they do sell these items, it is thought to be if inferior quality. So the argument is whether banning these stores would help attract real grocers or if banning them just perpetuates bigger and more food deserts. I'm not aware of a vacated Family Dollar store anywhere on Earth that was ultimately overtaken by a Publix or Kroger, but I also understand the optics of why a community may want to limit these types of stores.

You should do an experiment and visit a Family Dollar. Touch a few things in the store, thumb through the clothes and pick up some of the boxes. I guarantee you will leave feeling like you definitely need a good and long hand washing. You may also become overtaken by a feeling of despair and hopelessness.

Dollar Tree, not so much, and some Dollar Generals are fairly decent. I think Family Dollar is the one they really want out.

Here in Duluth, we used to have a Family Dollar on Buford Highway next to a Big Lots. They weren't legislated out (I don't think), but the building was demoed and a fancy apartment with Street level retail too it's place. That's just because of economics, though I'm sure the city has a hand on it.

Conversely, a new Dollar General was built nearby a year or two ago, and I haven't heard anybody having a problem with it.

I suppose the point is, it's a complex issue. Having said that, limiting the stores is unlikely to have any real impact on neighborhood quality. Improving neighborhood quality should come first, which would organically remove Family Dollar. Dollar General and Dollar Tree can coexist with quality. I can show you a Dollar Tree in Johns Creek.

[citidata18]

The problem isn't with the dollar store itself.

It's the frustration of not being able to attract other establishments besides dollar stores, unlike Duluth and Johns Creek.

Having a diverse mix of retail stores is the ideal goal.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by 2nd trick op

Legislation targeting specific persons (or institutions) by name is unconstitutional in most states; so the high-and-mighty in the affected communities get around this obstacle by mandating a square footage of space a small grocery (the mom-and-pop operations so venerated by fake aesthetes) can't justify.

So far so good; but I live with a physical handicap which makes it impossible to walk more than about 200 yards without physical discomfort, and in a community with a population of about 2000 -- too small to sustain a full-service grocery. (The same physical condition also prevents me from driving.)

Thanks, do-gooders, for legislating this customer out of the market in your pursuit of a "sanitized" economy.

I don't like them, but this sounds unconstitutional. Maybe some lawyer friend of Dekalb politicians needs work when Dekalb gets sued and we all pay for it.