More than half of all new retail store openings in 2019 have been dollar stores. Nationwide, the number of dollar stores has climbed from about 20,000 to nearly 30,000 since 2011. There are now more dollar stores than Walmart and McDonalds locations combined.
As our research concluded in an in-depth report: “There’s growing evidence that these stores are not merely a byproduct of economic distress. They’re a cause of it. In small towns and urban neighborhoods alike, dollar stores are leading full-service grocery stores to close. And their strategy of saturating communities with multiple outlets is making it impossible for new businesses to take root and grow.”
As we reported this week, a growing number of cities are now taking legislative action to limit the number of dollar stores. Our research takes a closer look at this national movement, as cities are learning from one another and implementing legislation to limit dollar store growth that harms communities.
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Photo: Family Dollar in New Orleans, by Bart Everson/Wikimedia Commons
