You Ever Notice...and What's the Deal...

[D'Snowth]

What's the deal with more and more people disliking Dollar General, but more and more people loving Dollar Tree? I honestly don't understand that. At all. I mean at least Dollar General carries name-brand products that you're actually familiar with . . . sure, nothing is actually a dollar there anymore, and I guess some locations do attract seedier crowds (if that viral kid who destroyed the dollar store in Florida two years ago is any indication of that). But what's so great about Dollar Tree? Sure, many of the things in there actually are a dollar . . . but all they carry is junk. It's like going to a second-hand store, everything in there is really cheap in more ways than one - it's all really cheaply made and poor quality. I just don't comprehend the imbalance here.

 

[Drtooth]

I've never had a Dollar General in these parts, is it similar to Family Dollar? I've never really liked them that much. And frankly, for some place that's supposed to be cheaper than everywhere else, their brand name toys cost more than what you'd pay anywhere else, even TRU. Dollar Tree I'm so so with. Every so often they'll carry failed toy lines (got the entire not that great Mattel One Piece action figure line for a buck each), but the only reason to go is to grab movie candy. They have a decent selection at least.

 

[Mynameisdean]

I've never had a Dollar General in these parts, is it similar to Family Dollar? I've never really liked them that much. And frankly, for some place that's supposed to be cheaper than everywhere else, their brand name toys cost more than what you'd pay anywhere else, even TRU. Dollar Tree I'm so so with. Every so often they'll carry failed toy lines (got the entire not that great Mattel One Piece action figure line for a buck each), but the only reason to go is to grab movie candy. They have a decent selection at least.

The closest Dollar General that I've seen to my house is in Vermont. And that's at least 2 and a half hours, probably more. The only other ones I've ever seen were in the South. But, I would assume they're more like Family Dollar than Dollar Tree. Every Dollar Tree I've been to seems dirty.

 

[D'Snowth]

Is Dollar General a regional chain? Because I'll tell you what, new locations are literally popping up overnight everywhere around here, almost to the point that they're like Starbucks (think SHREK 2). But yes, Dollar General is like a step above Family Dollar. Family Dollar, I would say, is like inbetween Dollar Tree and Dollar General on the scale: it's not as good as Dollar General, but it sure beats the heck out of Dollar Tree.

I'll tell you what, though, on some rare occasions, you may actually find a hidden gem at Dollar General; for example, years ago, I happened to find, by complete accident, an H.R. PUFNSTUF coloring book! And who knows how long it had been on the shelf, because it was dated 2005, but I think I got it in like 2009 or so.

But, like a lot of places, Dollar General does have its own off-brand line of products that are, well, pretty cheap. I got a deck of playing cards there almost ten years ago that I actually still have, and they're not great if you like playing cards: they're plastic, had a really bad smell when they first came out of the box, the printing is really poor quality (they look like they were designed by someone who doesn't know how to use Photoshop), and were made in China, lol. They've long been replaced by the overrated Ace brand cards.

 

[scooterfan360]

Is Dollar General a regional chain? Because I'll tell you what, new locations are literally popping up overnight everywhere around here, almost to the point that they're like Starbucks (think SHREK 2). But yes, Dollar General is like a step above Family Dollar. Family Dollar, I would say, is like inbetween Dollar Tree and Dollar General on the scale: it's not as good as Dollar General, but it sure beats the heck out of Dollar Tree.

I'll tell you what, though, on some rare occasions, you may actually find a hidden gem at Dollar General; for example, years ago, I happened to find, by complete accident, an H.R. PUFNSTUF coloring book! And who knows how long it had been on the shelf, because it was dated 2005, but I think I got it in like 2009 or so.

But, like a lot of places, Dollar General does have its own off-brand line of products that are, well, pretty cheap. I got a deck of playing cards there almost ten years ago that I actually still have, and they're not great if you like playing cards: they're plastic, had a really bad smell when they first came out of the box, the printing is really poor quality (they look like they were designed by someone who doesn't know how to use Photoshop), and were made in China, lol. They've long been replaced by the overrated Ace brand cards.

yes it is a regional chain, but people only like it because they can get little last minute things like personal items cheaper than other places.

 

[D'Snowth]

I looked it up, and Dollar General's corporate office is in my state, but they apparently have locations throughout the continental U.S. except for the northwest, and the state of North Dakota.

That would explain why we have so many locations here, lol. Likewise, the gas station chain Pilot is headquartered in our state (and is even own by own former mayor), and it's no exaggeration whatsoever to say that you can have two Pilots a block away from each other. Seriously, I even had Steve D'Monster joke about this once.

 

[D'Snowth]

I figured out another reason why Twitter is so pointless: because after so long, everybody eventually starts spamming their own Twitter feed. Really. What's the deal with people's tweets suddenly turning into hawks for beauty supplies, and internet surveys, and get-rich-quick scams, and such?

 

[Drtooth]

Is Dollar General a regional chain? Because I'll tell you what, new locations are literally popping up overnight everywhere around here, almost to the point that they're like Starbucks (think SHREK 2). But yes, Dollar General is like a step above Family Dollar. Family Dollar, I would say, is like inbetween Dollar Tree and Dollar General on the scale: it's not as good as Dollar General, but it sure beats the heck out of Dollar Tree.

Yeah. Family Dollar is meh. I've yet to see a Dollar General, but the FD's in my area were all hideously messy. I'd say that they used to have some good bargain toys here, cuz you know, toy collector over here. Then they just started becoming almost drug store-ian in their markup. Some of the FDs in my area actually became Dollar Trees. Those tend to vary in selection and organization depending how good the area is.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Every dollar store I've been in (Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Dollar General, etc.) all have varying degrees of grunge to them. Unopened crates in the aisles, dirty carpets, missing ceiling panels.
They're okay for party favors, cold drinks, little nickel-and-dime (well, actually dollar!) stuff.
But how many people would actually buy groceries there? That can of Vienna sausages! Yum!!!!! 8)

 

[Drtooth]

I'd never touch a can of hot dog meats no matter how reputable the store I'd buy it from would be. Not even Trader Joe's.

Though I am surprised that Dollar Tree's stuff is mostly discontinued product lines that aren't too close to expiration. And a lot of the frozen food items they sell are pretty much the same brands for around the same price you'd find in any given grocery store. It's just those giant 3 liter bottles of awful soda, the meats, and some of the odd brand canned goods that get me a little... shuddery. But candy, cookies and when they have actual Pop Tarts. Those are alright. The Angry Birds fruit snacks are the best I've ever had, and I'll get those from time to time.

For me it's cheap art supplies (basically pencils and paper and stuff like that), cheap snacks, and if they have decent toys about be they discounted discontinued failures of lines (though I've heard reports of Transformers Kreos, but haven't seen one anywhere in the state) or cheap little PVC's of Marvel or Disney or Simpsons characters, and that rare rare occasion when they have decent DVD's. Other than that, meh.

Though I did like their overstock 2 comic books in a blind bag thing. Even got a rare (at least I've never heard of it) Eek! The Cat comic once. Then they stopped carrying those.