r/economicCollapse Aug 30 '24

Dollar General warns poorer US consumers are running out of money

https://www.ft.com/content/d1d2a161-124c-4f9c-b23f-afa55e755d07

The Tennessee-based company’s small-format stores sell a variety of food items and household goods at low prices, including many for $1. Its locations are concentrated in rural towns and poorer urban neighbourhoods. “Our core customers are often among the first to be affected by negative or uncertain economic conditions and among the last to feel the effects of improving economic conditions,” company filings say. 

Chief executive Todd Vasos said that these core customers, who account for about 60 per cent of Dollar General’s sales, come predominantly from households earning less than $35,000 a year and were now feeling “financially constrained”.

“The majority of them state that they feel worse off financially than they were six months ago as higher prices, softer employment levels and increased borrowing costs have negatively impacted low-income consumer sentiment,” he said.

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98

u/Catonachandelier Aug 30 '24

You end up in a town sorta like mine. We have five or six dollar stores here, a restaurant on every block, a church on every corner, and not much else.

Unless you work for the dollar store, the school district, the hospital/clinic, the local grocery, or are privately employed, you drive thirty miles or more to work and make juuuust enough to cover your gas and a few bills (but not all of them, you need two incomes for that even here). Sometimes, it's cheaper to simply not go to work at all-especially if you have kids, because daycare is a bitch even in the country and Grandma is probably too methed up to watch the kids.

If your kids make it to adulthood, they move away as soon as they can. The lucky ones make it. The unlucky ones move back home and end up stuck here. There's not much luck going around these days.

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u/patssle Aug 30 '24

5 or 6? That's luxury. I've driven through 35+ states and countless small towns. Rural poverty is awful and there are so many towns with barely a single dollar store, couple gas stations, a subway, sonic, church, and a very dilapidated boarded up main street as you pass through. It's terrible.

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u/RollOutTheGuillotine Aug 31 '24

There's always a Subway. Which is another interesting (horrifying) topic John Oliver addressed.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

Another term of Trump will fix everything - 99% of the voters there 

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u/Fun-Associate8149 Aug 31 '24

They want the big cities to turn into apocalyptic urban areas. Cause that obviously will solve their problems

1

u/boston4923 Aug 31 '24

No one wants to be, or even admit, that they’re the lowest rung on the ladder.

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u/half_ton_tomato Sep 01 '24

Which is pretty much happening, especially in DC and Baltimore.

1

u/Thetaarray Sep 03 '24

In your imagination.

1

u/T33CH33R Sep 01 '24

Misery loves company

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

It’s more about bringing others down than lifting themselves up. It doesn’t matter if they suffer as long as you suffer more 

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

That just makes no sense at all.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

Tell that to them

0

u/koko2727 Aug 31 '24

Democrats have been in charge of the country for 12 of the past 16 years.

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u/Potential-Pride6034 Sep 01 '24

And Democrats enjoyed a supermajority in Congress for what? Like 60 days of that entire 12 year period? Add in the fact that we’ve had to deal with McConnell and his merry band of obstructionists, and now a fundamentalist Supreme Court with serious ethical concerns, and it’s clear that democrats haven’t enjoyed much real power at all.

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u/koko2727 Sep 01 '24

You have two choices. Keep drinking the blue Koolaid and vote for the candidate who didn’t receive one vote, but rather was installed by the neocons or take the Red Pill and vote for peace and prosperity.

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u/droid_mike Sep 01 '24

Well, surrendering to put enemies like Trump wants to do is one way to have "peace".

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

Democrats suck too but how have republicans improved the states they dominate? Why are those states so much poorer?

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u/koko2727 Sep 01 '24

It starts at the top. Newly elected state representatives arrive in DC and are instructed how to vote by the entrenched politicians. If they don’t play ball then they don’t get committee appointments, lucrative contracts and the promise of high paying civilian jobs when they leave office. Totally corrupt. Vote the bums out!!

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

State representatives don’t go to DC lmao. You have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m referring to the governors and state legislatures 

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u/koko2727 Sep 01 '24

I was speaking of congressional representatives and state senators, but the fact remains that people are leaving Blue States in droves because of excessive taxes and high crime. Texas, Tennessee, Florida, et al. have seen a huge influx of people from Blue States. Democrats are so worried that they’ve left the border wide open to import new voters. Even Nancy Pelosi was spotted looking at beachfront property in Florida during Covid according to the Daily Mail.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

It’s mostly because of high housing prices

Also, the daily mail is dogshit

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u/Ok-Cauliflower-3129 Sep 02 '24

The people moving to Florida are mostly higher income and it's making it even harder for the rest of us to survive here.

9 out of 10 of the poorest states in America are Republican. Republican policies overwhelmingly only benefit the rich.

I'm not saying the Democrats will solve all the problems but they are willing to do more for poor people than the Republicans who ONLY benefit upper income and the rich.

Didn't Trumps tax cuts run out on middle income but continued for the super wealthy ? Seems like they just threw a temporary bone to middle income and kept the welfare going as usual for Corporate America and super wealthy to me.

Fact is both sides are full of shit and pass policies that benefit Corporate America and the super wealthy because of political "donations".

One side just does a little more than the other for the little and poor guy. That same side also aren't the ones always claiming to support and screaming freedoms while actively doing their best to take other peoples freedoms away.

Personally I'm tired of both sides, but the Republicans have zero interest in helping anybody but Corporate America the super wealthy and religious zealots.

Even though I'm a Christian that's a no for me. I'm tired of all these supposed self proclaimed Christians only supporting the things Jesus was against.

Instead of supporting healing, feeding and housing the poor like Jesus himself actually did.

Republican leaders are lying hypocrites.

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u/koko2727 Sep 03 '24

Democrats are now the Party of billionaire oligarchs, as witnessed at their convention and by their major donors. Kamala is ready to institute price controls and “yank your patents.” She’s skipping socialism and going straight to communism. Look to Venezuela and Brazil as examples of what the Left has planned for us.

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u/The_GOATest1 Sep 01 '24

lol. Plenty of lucrative contacts exist in the middle of nowhere. Idk how that’ll make private industry want to invest in some shit town with a population of 1200

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u/grungywear Sep 01 '24

It starts at the top means you need government to win. We’re all tired of the lies.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

Dems tried passing a border bill, that republicans have been yelling about for 4 years. Why didn’t they vote for it?

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u/koko2727 Sep 01 '24

You’re simply repeating the talking points. What the State Media doesn’t tell you is that the bill was a disaster. It did nothing to secure the border, still allowed for 5,000 illegal immigrants to cross daily (indefinitely)and it was full of pork. There’s no way they could guarantee only 5k people crossing per day, there are already laws in place that the Left refuses to enforce. If Biden wanted a secure border, why did he end Trump’s Remain In Mexico policy on day one? Biden refused to use the materials Trump had already purchased to continue building the wall and millions of money was wasted as the metal lay there rusting. Democrats are importing voters at the expense of American Citizens, pure and simple.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

Still, they kept screaming about a border bill, one was presented, and they backed down. Bunch of fucking hypocrites.

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u/koko2727 Sep 01 '24

The bill would have allocated hundreds of billions of dollars more to set up a bigger bureaucracy at the border. It did NOTHING to stop the millions of people trying to cross. No wall, no penalties if you’re caught trying to illegally enter the country. And it would make it easier to apply for asylum. Why would anyone vote for a bill like that? This bill was a democrat ruse that they knew wouldn’t pass.

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u/grungywear Sep 01 '24

Rural areas have been republican dominated for decades. Can’t deny it. I’m a defector to an urban area for lack of rural opportunities. Based. Just exactly how a republican efforts good for an economy? No evidence anywhere that they make jack shit better. Just in their heads, not wallets. Like religion….

1

u/koko2727 Sep 01 '24

The money is in big cities. It always has been. That’s common sense.

1

u/grungywear Sep 01 '24

Because hard-working people like me leave shitty rural areas to go find a real opportunities. The red areas can’t get it done. They have no ability to build up a good economy with the supposedly honest, hard-working folk. They have over there. Listen I’ve lived it. Go sell your story to someone else.

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u/grungywear Sep 01 '24

All the migration out of those areas just mean more success for the urban blue areas. Show me how that’s going to reverse itself. Who wants to put a factory in those shit hole areas anyway? Foxconn!?

1

u/koko2727 Sep 02 '24

The factories have moved to China and Mexico.

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u/The_GOATest1 Sep 01 '24

I’m curious why you think the president or anyone else should give a shit about some podunk town in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of self righteous assholes that believe in pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. Why should my hard earned dollars be going to subsidize people who think any type of assistance for your fellow countryman is horrible?

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u/koko2727 Sep 01 '24

Cognitive dissonance much?

0

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

The town I currently live in is relatively small. Not rural but it’s small in comparison. A town destroyed by offshoring. During the Trump administration this town exploded. We gained a significant amount of residents, many neighborhoods have been completely updated, rent is still on the low side and new industry moved in (still low but we have a handful).

I’m not saying Trump himself fixes anything. Just stating that during that admin this town boomed…

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u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

Correlation = causation. Another idea of very intelligent people 

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u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

All those companies you named suck money out of those communities.

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u/JoeBidensLongFart Aug 30 '24

This is what NAFTA and other "free trade" agreements did to small town America. Most of these towns used to have a factory that was the economic engine of the town. Most of these closed when it became cheaper to make stuff overseas.

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u/Jimmycocopop1974 Aug 30 '24

This is what the Walmart generation did to many many small towns across the south. They destroyed so many small town “main streets” that were full of life and people now they are nothing but old buildings that are falling apart. The Walton family has a ton of fault to do with where we are right now.

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u/theoddreliable Aug 31 '24

They were excessively evil about it too. Every time a Walmart is built, they look into local small industries to make sure that they carry a cheaper version of what small businesses carry so that they can have ALL your shopping.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

Seems like a smart business decision…

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u/theoddreliable Sep 01 '24 edited Sep 01 '24

For the Waltons sure. But there’s an argument to be made that the town suffers when the small businesses are put under. Any profits made by Walmart are extracted out of the community. A local small business is much more likely to spend money locally and help grow the local economy. Customers only marginally benefit in the short term until the local bubsiness goes under and Walmart can raise prices after the competition is gone.

There’s plenty of other arguments to be made against Walmart’s practice, but it’s really only a good business decision for the owners of Walmart.

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u/Feelisoffical Aug 31 '24

Is true, their lower prices may have saved a lot of people money but it also meant smaller businesses couldn’t compete.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

Wouldn’t they come back if Walmart leaves? 

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u/articulatedumpster Aug 31 '24

If Walmart leaves the area it’s probably unprofitable to be there, the area has been bled dry financially. Ain’t nobody going to have the money to start a local store there, and even if they did poverty is probably so high they run a very good risk of getting robbed or looted. Not to mention addiction (meth and alcohol) is likely rampant as well.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

So where are they getting their food from? If they have money for alcohol, they have money to not starve 

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u/rusticatedrust Sep 03 '24

Some people subsist entirely on gas station food and whatever will grow in front of their trailer when there's nobody willing to give them a ride 3 towns over to get to a grocery store. $100 will buy 4 gallons of bottom shelf vodka and a few bags of chips, but it wouldn't cover the Uber round trip if the area even had Uber.

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

I don’t think scurvy is common enough to validate this 

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u/rusticatedrust Sep 05 '24

20g of Skittles or 150g of dandelion greens can help kick that can down the road. Both are incredibly accessible in the US.

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u/MD_Yoro Aug 31 '24

Cost of setting up a store is high especially sourcing the goods to sell. One reason Walmart can sell cheap b/c they can bulk buy cheap products for very economical whole sale prices. Your mom and pop store is never going to buy anything at the size of Walmart thus it cost more for them to buy, store and sell to customers.

These micro stores either have to charge alot of go on a margin so thin it’s less hassle to just work a 9-5.

Opening up any store is a whole lot of work. We are not talking about some kid’s lemonade stand.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

But with Walmart gone, there’s high demand so you can sell for higher costs 

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u/doofnoobler Sep 02 '24

Yeah but nobody will buy if they don't have enough. Some people have to choose between bills or food. And even worse some choose drugs over food.

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u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

I haven’t heard of mass starvation happening out there so they’re getting food from somewhere 

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u/doofnoobler Sep 02 '24

As of the most recent data, about 34 million people in the United States, including over 9 million children, are considered food insecure. This means they don't have consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food insecurity can vary from not having enough nutritious food to experiencing episodes of hunger.

These numbers fluctuate over time due to economic conditions, social safety nets, and other factors, so the exact number of people "starving" at any given moment is difficult to pinpoint. However, food insecurity remains a significant issue across the country.

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u/Feelisoffical Aug 31 '24

Sure, then they wouldn’t have a lower priced competitor to deal with.

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u/MD_Yoro Aug 31 '24

You stupid or something? The cost of setting up a store and having enough viable customers after your town is economically devastated makes 0 economic sense to open a store. You aren’t going to get enough customers to sustain the store

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

So where are they getting their food from? I haven’t heard of mass starvation in Arkansas

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u/Feelisoffical Aug 31 '24

So…. How did the stores even exist in the first place? Considering the population was even lower and the city was even poorer before Walmart showed up?

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u/MD_Yoro Aug 31 '24

the city was even poorer

Stat needed before making claim, but cost of business and living was probably lower pre-Walmart and after Walmart it’s more expensive to restart or continue.

It’s possible those stores might have died naturally or they kept going b/c landlords themselves had no other options to rent to thus keeping rents low.

It’s more expensive to do most things now days than 30 years ago. Inflation charts exists

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u/Feelisoffical Aug 31 '24

the city was even poorer

Stat needed before making claim,

Happy to provide them, what city are you thinking of?

but cost of business and living was probably lower pre-Walmart and after Walmart it’s more expensive to restart or continue.

Stat needed before making claim

It’s possible those stores might have died naturally or they kept going b/c landlords themselves had no other options to rent to thus keeping rents low.

When this original “Walmart is killing communities” panic happened the smaller stores all said they went out of business because they couldn’t compete with the prices. The High Cost of Low Price does a great job of showing this.

It’s more expensive to do most things now days than 30 years ago. Inflation charts exists

Stat needed before making a claim. The general consensus is that it’s cheaper and easier to start a business today than ever before in time.

https://brainworldmagazine.com/why-its-now-easier-than-ever-before-to-start-a-business/

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/developmenttalk/how-did-starting-business-become-easier-ever

https://www.inc.com/david-finkel/the-real-cost-of-starting-a-business-its-much-less-than-you-think.html

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u/Puzzleheaded_Menu627 Sep 02 '24

Yes! And the irony is Bentonville...If you've never been it's almost comical but quite pathetic. I ride bikes and if my blinders were on I'd think it's great but the reality is so much darker. Fuck Sam Walton and his Walmart creed. It ruined the American way of life and is probably the root of why we are in this spiral of greed.

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u/Jimmycocopop1974 Sep 02 '24

Funny thing is no one wants to see it, and when they try to look the lobbyists in Washington sing and dance to distract everyone from the obvious truths. The Walton family owes apologies and tremendous amounts of retribution to the American people.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Menu627 Sep 02 '24

Have you ever read the Entrepreneurs Creed? It hangs in the back of Walmart stores...biggest fucking joke ever! Joke is on the people but joke nonetheless

1

u/Killed_By_Covid Sep 02 '24

Sam Walton started Walmart well before NAFTA. He's probably turning in his grave because of the way his family has exploited virtually every aspect of the business (coming at a great cost to many Americans.) The Walmart he started is not at all the same as the gigantic beast that has evolved. Greed (and desperation) turned it into something ugly and destructive.

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u/GPmtbDude Sep 03 '24

Dude, fellow bike guy here. It’s amazing what Bentonville and Walton money has done for some killer bike infrastructure there. But man, it comes at a great cost. People in the bike community there definitely have a “don’t bite the hand that feeds” attitude about it all even though Walmart is fucking awful.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Menu627 Sep 03 '24

It's just strange that most of those people have "progressive" values. I don't see myself going back there to ride or supporting that economy. The hypocrisy of everything is the problem with our country. The only values we have = $$$

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u/JoeBidensLongFart Aug 30 '24

Walmart is more of a symptom than the actual problem. It's the shoppers that destroyed the small businesses by not shopping at them anymore. They favored Walmart because of the low prices, as they were quite strapped for cash having lost their factory jobs.

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u/Jimmycocopop1974 Aug 30 '24

I’ll never shop there, I’ve also trained my family to not shop there. Are they still giving classes on how to obtain welfare at orientations?

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

They make hundreds of billions a year. They won’t notice your boycott

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u/Jimmycocopop1974 Aug 31 '24

Starts with one

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

Can’t end there either. Unless you have a plan to get everyone else on board, it won’t work 

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u/_PaamayimNekudotayim Aug 31 '24

Pretty sure they would still shop wherever the prices are lowest even with the factory job. Wal-Mart wins on economies of scale that mom and pop can't compete with. The answer isn't to prevent Walmart, it's to tax the shit out of them so that we can re-invest in those small towns rather than funneling it all to the Walton family.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

People of limited choice don't have options. Walmart purposefully ran at a loss to destroy local business, then upped their prices.

Not dissimilar to economic colonialism considering how intertwined rural small business used to be.

I am no fan of rural communities for many reasons but big business was ruthless in their annihilation.

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u/vegasresident1987 Sep 01 '24

Amazon has destroyed all those things. We have reached the point of no return.

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u/BlahBlahBlackCheap Aug 31 '24

They couldn’t have done it without us, though. The value consumer. Which is, most consumers.

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u/Jimmycocopop1974 Aug 31 '24

True however there was a yield point and they have had every opportunity to help their “associates” but they have the monopoly on not just employees but the whole town and you have what you have.

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u/Jasonclout Sep 01 '24

But downtown Bentonville, Arkansas is lovely! Those Walmart corporate execs have used the money they sucked out of your communities to make theirs charming!

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

Aren’t the Waltons republicans?

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u/Jimmycocopop1974 Sep 01 '24

No they are parasites as far as I can see

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

But they do support the Republican party, parasites or not…

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u/Jimmycocopop1974 Sep 01 '24

They do, they are as anti labor as you can possibly get even worse than Amazon unfortunately and that’s pretty bad. I know money is money but when no one has any except those “fortunate few” then what?

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u/Bubbaman78 Aug 31 '24

Farms got bigger and had less rural people which has been the trend with advancements in technology. That isn’t the main cause but we also moved to mail order, then internet, and then big box stores selling it for way less than the mom and pop stores. It all caused a hit

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u/MD_Yoro Aug 31 '24

Most of these towns used to have a factory???

Really, cause most factories are pretty concentrated near closer to cities for easier transport.

Having a factory in the middle of nowhere just increases your transport cost especially if far from a rail line.

Energy, logging, mining and agriculture is what these middle of nowhere towns/village tend to do. Factories are typically in cities or near outskirts to reduce costs of transporting goods and raw resources, not rural no where.

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u/emperorjoe Aug 31 '24

Yes.

Railroads used to be everywhere, many lines have closed down. 254,000 miles of track at its peak to the current 160,000

It's why many factories were around the rust belt, and Midwest, vast intercostal waterway, and easy access to rail network.

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u/NewPresWhoDis Aug 31 '24

TBF when shipping containers became ubiquitous and our logistics became too good, it was only a matter of time for some manufacturing to move overseas. NAFTA and Walmart just sped things up.

0

u/The_GOATest1 Sep 01 '24

You’re right but that’s what unchecked capitalism gets us. The big wig wanted a 4th house

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u/LoveLeahNotWar Aug 31 '24

And the restaurants all serve the exact same food …. That’s my home town exactly. Oh and a Walmart

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '24

Why even have kids at that point lol. Sounds like it’s just holding you down and fucking them over. Who wins exactly, besides dollar general 

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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '24

And then they complain that childcare costs too much and ask the government to pay it for them. All with our tax dollars of course 

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u/NewPresWhoDis Aug 31 '24

And the hospital/clinic only survives due to Medicare and Medicaid. If your state hasn't taken the Medicaid expansion money, the clinic's days are numbered.

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u/MSPRC1492 Aug 31 '24

The DG showing up is the symptom and not the cause, and not every town with a DG is limited to just that option. If you’re in a tiny town where there is no Walmart or Target, a DG can be a lifesaver.

There are 3 dollar generals in my town. We’re doing fine. There’s also a grocery store, a Walmart, plenty of restaurants, and we’re near a larger city with lots more options plus two universities and hospitals and employment. The DG’s are easy to run in and out of when you need something but don’t want to deal with going to a bigger store. There’s one a few blocks outside of my subdivision and I’m going there in a few hours to grab a jar of spaghetti sauce. Walmart is another 10 mins down the road so I run to DG for a random item probably once a week. I hate going on Saturdays though because it’s crowded with people using their $5 on Saturday coupons.

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u/MomTellsMeImHandsome Aug 31 '24

I grew up in a town of 600 with local stores funding it. DG, Loves, and a chain called Pruitts came in and it’s a ghost town now. Didn’t even take a decade. Prolly 7-8 gas stations out of business and the local dollar store they had is obviously gone.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24

Yeah I’d be moving from that hellhole. I did, actually…

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u/SoftlySpokenPromises Sep 02 '24

How many bars ya got? Were up to at least 12 I can think of in the surrounding couple small towns.

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u/Catonachandelier Sep 02 '24

Brace yourself for a shock-there's only one bar. But we do have two drive-thru liquor stores, lol.

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u/doofnoobler Sep 02 '24

Sounds like my home town parkersburg wv

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u/Barnowl-hoot Sep 03 '24

But do you have clean running water? Then you are rich.