Dollar stores growing because they fill a need

UConn Professor Rigoberto Lopez and Caitlin Caspi [director of food security initiatives at UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health] have their cause and effect backwards. Dollar stores aren’t pushing small food markets out of business [Dec. 27, Page 1, “Dollar stores have a bad side”].

The reality is that the failure of small markets is causing a void that the dollar stores are filling. Those in the lower-income groups have always had a difficult time affording fresh, nutritious foods because they are expensive, even in a good economy. And when the economy is bad, these perishable food items, which need more manpower to produce and require more cost in energy for processing, refrigeration and transportation, go up in price higher and faster than less nutritious alternatives.

According to Lopez and Caspi, the small food markets are, typically, in more rural areas that can’t support larger food markets due to less dense populations and lower incomes. These small stores have less buying power than big markets, and when the economy is poor their customers are the first ones to cut back, especially on the more nutritious foods that also supply the markets with better profit margins. When energy prices and labor costs rise, the cost of operation goes up faster than people’s income, resulting in higher prices and lower sales and profits. That’s why they go out of business.

Lopez and Caspi should be thankful for the dollar stores that, while carrying less nutritious choices, offer lower costs and help people to stave off hunger. While the pandemic created some problems, they need to realize the real culprits are the economy and the cost of energy.

The dollar stores are proliferating because they are filling a need, helping to keep people from going hungry.

Ira Fink, Manchester