美国国家公共电台 NPR--More communities are deciding to fight the expansion of dollar stores

More communities are deciding to fight the expansion of dollar stores

Transcript¹

The number of dollar stores is growing quickly, especially Dollar General. In some towns dollar stores are a vital shopping option, but some residents warn the stores do more harm than good.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

There's a good chance that, right now, you're just a few miles away from a discount store with the word dollar in its name - in fact, probably lots of them. The three major dollar chains have more locations in the U.S. than Starbucks, Walmart and McDonald's combined. Stephan Bisaha of the Gulf⁴ States Newsroom explains the dollar store takeover.

STEPHAN BISAHA, BYLINE⁵: If you had a dollar for every time a Dollar General opened up, you'd get three bucks³ every day. Impressive, especially considering other big retailers⁶ are closing stores. But just as impressive is where they open - not just big cities, but rural areas where those other retailers don't go, places like April Russell's hometown of York, Ala.

APRIL RUSSELL: Well, to me, dollar stores are the bread and butter of small towns because we don't have Walmart here. So everything you need is at the dollar stores here. So - which, actually, I'm going to one in a minute, so...

BISAHA: York's in Alabama's Black Belt, an area known for rich soil and high poverty. And like a lot of small, rural towns, York doesn't have a grocery store. It's just hard to make a buck² in a place where there are so few customers.

RUSSELL: The grocery store lasted maybe four months. But we still had the dollar stores here.

BISAHA: Notice she said dollar stores. York's a town of 2,400 people with no grocer but two different dollar stores - Dollar General and Family Dollar. And that's possible because of the core idea that makes a dollar store a dollar store - cheap, even if prices aren't exactly a dollar.

RUSSELL: Sometimes the grocery stores are too expensive. Dollar store - you can find the same items, but it's cheaper.

BISAHA: Of course, a big factor in the dollar stores spreading like kudzu is not just cheap prices, but cheap everything - like low-cost buildings, hiring few workers and selling little to no fresh produce. But that doesn't fully⁷ explain why you often see dollar stores across the street from each other. Well, part of that comes down to Dollar General being the invading force in a dollar store war.

KAREN SHORT: Absolutely. Dollar General is going for the attack on Family Dollar.

BISAHA: Karen Short tracks dollar stores for Credit Suisse. Analysts⁸ say Dollar General has a strategy and the cash to aggressively push in on Family Dollar's turf.

SHORT: They don't have a problem opening up a better, newer store.

BISAHA: And we're nowhere near peak dollar stores, at least if you believe Dollar General CEO Jeff Owen during their December earnings⁹ call.

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JEFF OWEN: You know, in the U.S. alone, we have 16,000 additional opportunities, and we feel great about our ability to capture those.

BISAHA: That's 16,000 more stores. Add that to expansion plans from Dollar Tree, and we're talking about possibly doubling the number of dollar stores in the U.S. - enough to make a CEO giddy.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OWEN: Stepping back, you can probably hear in my excitement about the real estate and our ability to continue to grow here.

BISAHA: But the dollar store enthusiasm has been running into a growing dollar store backlash.

LIZ REEVES: Why do we need another one when we're already surrounded?

BISAHA: Liz Reeves lives in Culleoka, Tenn. It's a small town about an hour south of Nashville surrounded by dollar stores, including one just four miles from Reeves' house.

REEVES: We were ecstatic when it was there. Weren't happy that it ran the little store down there out of business.

BISAHA: And that's the source behind a lot of the dollar store opposition¹⁰ - fears their low-cost model makes it harder for local retailers to compete. In 2021, Reeves worried plans to open a Dollar General in Culleoka would eventually shut down the town's one small market.

REEVES: I'm mad at them. I really am. You don't come in and try to overtake where somebody lives because you want to make a dollar.

BISAHA: Reeves and her neighbors convinced the county to vote against allowing the Dollar General to open. Other communities have gone even further, with about 50 across the country putting limits on new dollar stores, saying they already have too many.

For NPR News, I'm Stephan Bisaha in Birmingham.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

3 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。