Discount Stores Compete For Dollars

This week an informal myMotherLode.com poll question asked about stores that sell merchandise for one dollar or less in Tuolumne County. The results were;

We Have Enough 38%
Too Many Now 29%
Doesn’t Matter 19%
More is Okay 9%
Need More 5%

The poll ran from October 28th to November 3rd with 849 votes.

There are a few stores in the MotherLode that sell merchandise for under one dollar, including a Dollar Tree in the Junction Shopping Center in Sonora. On September 27th the first Dollar General, which sells several items for more than $1, opened in Jamestown. A permit for a Dollar General store off of Soulsbyville Road was also approved by Tuolumne County Planning Commission on September 18th. The Tennessee based Dollar General has 10,000 stores in 40 states. Dollar Tree is based in Virginia with more than 5,000 stores in the 48 contiguous states.

According to the Associated Press the Dollar General is currently competing with Dollar Tree to purchase a struggling franchise called Family Dollar (8,200 stores in 46 states). A proposed $8.5 billion deal offered by Dollar Tree for Family Dollar was accepted, but the Dollar General proposed a $9.1 million offer to Family Dollar shareholders. The AP reports that Dollar General’s strength lies in rural markets and it wants Family Dollar for its metropolitan customer base. All three businesses are publicly traded Fortune 500 companies and compete with other discount stores such as WalMart. The Family Dollar purchase is under U.S. anti-trust review by the Federal Trade Commission.