I'm not sure how widespread the Bottom Dollar food stores were around the US, but they started popping up around Northeast Ohio about 3-4 years ago in many locations. This month, all the stores around here closed down. I believe the company, which is based out of Europe, closed all of it's US stores. It's kind of a shame though, because I honestly sort of liked them. I liked having a smaller grocery store around, which was more like the grocery stores I remember growing up. These days, many of the more established chains have been expanding considerably and their stores are enormous. Many of the Giant Eagle stores around here, for example, are as big as, if not bigger than a Sams Club. It's kind of exhausting having to trek so far from one end of the store to another when you just need to pick up a couple things and they are on opposite ends of the store. Plus the bigger the store, the more likely you are to get stuck in long lines with buggies filled to the brim with items. Their produce section, while small, was also rather Neat because the whole thing was encased in a giant refrigeration unit - which I'm surprised why other groceries don't adopt the same concept. I never saw bugs flying around in it, and the produce was always cool, crisp and fresh. They really should have included a better selection of fresh baked breads though even if they weren't going to have an in store bakery. Also their lack of a deli counter coupled with their very limited selection of lunch meat choices was a drawback for me. The place sort of reminded me of Aldi a bit, but the carried many name brand products.
Yeah, I've shopped in dollar stores, but I never bought much food there. I think once I got some bread from the frozen food section, but even then, I was really wary of it all. Obviously, I made it.
I dont believe we have any of these particular stores in my area of the country. We have a Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar General stores though. I go to dollar stores quite often for products such as soda and candy. Not the most friendly customer service but the stores are suoer convenient.
Yes, its not easy for these smaller dollar stores to stay afloat. Especially when they get competiton from a better one. I remember in my area there was a small dollar store for years that I went to. Then 99 cents only opened right across the street from it. This is a huge dollar store that offers not just dollar store items but quality grocerty items. Anyway, the smaller dollar store couldn't compete, lost customers to 99 cents only and within a year moved out of that spot. I don't know if they went to another location or if they just closed all together.
I'm not positive but I believe Aldi has now bought a number of the Bottom Dollar stores. I did frequent Bottom Dollar however I got the feeling some of their products were dated, and that's why they were offered at a discount. While I will eat older food in my home, I'm not a fan of purchasing it to help a company clear their inventory. When I see a few products that are close to expiration in a store it will turn me off the whole store because I do not trust their practices. Perhaps it was just the Bottom Dollar near me, but that's what I didn't like about the store. Also I do remember being forced to fill out information to get a discount card, as the cashier wouldn't swipe a courtesy card.
It's a shame that the shops are closing down, but I think it is a sign of things to come. With the economic downturn, it has been very common for shops like these to open, but now that things are changing, hopefully for the better, the types of shops that are needed are changing too, which is great in way, but sad for those of us that got used to shopping in certain places. Hopefully they will be replaced with something that will be of great benefit to everybody!
Sadly, there are several chain stores closing in my area too. Discounters like Home Bargains and Poundland (I'm in the UK) are gaining popularity fast, but this is at the expense of the more traditional stores like Woolworths and Somerfield who are now obsolete. I do believe that the discounters are here to stay though. I think that people are likely to retain the frugal shopping habits they have been forced to establish and keep using these type of stores. The economic crisis has hit me quite hard, personally but the new frugal habits I have picked up will stay with me for life, even when things begin to improve.
