DOLLAR STORES

In the last thirty years, since the virtual stagnation of wages for the people who actually do the work in this country, discount stores and cut rate retailers have proliferated. Dollar stores and places like Walmart give the illusion of wealth, however these places can be a trap. Most of the time filling up the cart in these places is a waste of money. I almost never buy canned foods at the dollar store because they are much cheaper by half at the grocery store. I find many of the other ingestibles to be of inferior quality also. Vitamins and medications for instance should not be purchased at these venues. They were tested by Consumers' Report and found wanting. I purchased the store brand chocalate once and was disappointed. The brand name stuff like Dove is always delicious though and well worth buying. In general brand name items are worth purchasing at the dollar store. Sometimes I can get T shirts there on the cheap. But in general dollar stores are a disappointment and a shopper has to be careful not to over shop and over pay. It's too easy to get lured in the illusion of saving money when in fact the shopping cart is full of silly and wasteful spending on seasonal decorating and candles. Dollar stores are just a way to make people feel rich without actually raising wages. It's a cheap trick to fool us.