Dollar-store chains like Dollar General and Dollar Tree are rapidly expanding by targeting the poor, particularly in predominantly black neighborhoods and rural areas, while planning for a permanent American underclass, according to a new report from the community development nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR).
Though dollar stores sell no fresh vegetables, fruits or meat (Dollar General is testing produce in fewer than 1 percent of its stores), they are quickly becoming one of the primary ways lower-income Americans eat, with the combined grocery sales of Dollar General and Dollar Tree outstripping Whole Foods by more than $10 billion.
www.newsweek.com/dollar-stores-general-tree-america-economy-poor-people-food-poverty-lower-1250186
Here’s a remarkable fact: Dollar stores are now feeding more Americans than Whole Foods is – even though most dollar stores have no fresh food, only a limited selection of packaged items. 1/ pic.twitter.com/A7cLSkLJvK
— Stacy Mitchell (@stacyfmitchell) December 7, 2018