In 2013, I wrote about the dollar store miracle.
In November 2019, I wrote the following:
“I have said that we will know that price inflation has gotten really bad when dollar stores no longer exist. The same stores may still exist, but they will no longer be able to sell everything for a dollar. Maybe we’ll see two-dollar stores with the same products.”
I recently had to go to the pet store, and there is a dollar store next to it. I believe it is a Dollar Tree. I needed a couple of things, so I went in and bought two items. I found out quickly that they are no longer a dollar.
My two items cost $2.50 plus tax. If I had bought those same two things in that same store a year ago, they would have been $2.00 plus tax.
So who cares about 25 cents or 50 cents (plus tax)? I think every American who isn’t very wealthy should care.
That is 25 cents (plus tax) added to most products in the store. If you had to pay 25 cents more for one product and that was it, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
That 25 cents is an additional 25 percent (plus the additional sales tax to the government) on nearly everything.
The woman in front of me had a cart full of stuff. I was actually impressed with how much shopping she had done in such a small store. But it wasn’t junk in her cart. A lot of it was food and household necessities. And the food wasn’t all junk food either.
Her total came to $107. If you take out the tax, she spent $100. If she had paid that amount a year ago, it would have been 100 items purchased (or around that, as there are a few things that are less expensive than a dollar).
In 2022 America, she only got 80 products instead of 100. That is a major difference, especially given the short timeframe.
This shows how insidious inflation is for consumers. And we are all consumers.
Just in case some leftist is reading this who has no clue about economics, I am not at all blaming the dollar store. In fact, I find it incredible that they are able to sell some of these products for such a low price.
After watching the woman in front of me, I am thinking that I should buy more things at the dollar store when it makes sense. It wouldn’t be my main grocery shopping, but there are things there that the kids will eat, especially in the way of snacks and desserts.
As a side note, the woman in front of me at the checkout was emptying her cart and offered that I go ahead of her since I only had a couple of things in my hand. I wasn’t in a rush, so I declined and told her to go ahead. I wasn’t planning to write a blog post about it, but I’m glad I waited. Again, I was actually impressed by how much she was able to buy there.
I have written several times about the phenomenon of the dollar store. I guess this means that consumer price inflation really has gotten bad. It is still called a dollar store, but you can no longer walk in knowing that everything will cost a dollar.
When I wrote about it in November 2019, I didn’t necessarily imagine that it would happen in just a couple of years. But a lot has happened since that time including many trillions of dollars having been created out of thin air.
To all of the dollar stores out there, I know it is not your fault that you couldn’t hold the dollar standard. It is the fault of the central bankers, the politicians, and those who endorse their wicked policies.
Dollar stores are a great benefit to struggling Americans. They actually help improve our lives while the central bankers and politicians are working hard to destroy our lives.
Hopefully it will still be a while before the products in the dollar store are priced at two dollars.