• Dollar Stores Increase Local Presence, Raise Prices


    by on Dec 20th, 2010
    99 cent store sheepshead bay

    Photo by PayPaul

    A number of new dollar stores have popped up around Sheepshead Bay, but they’re also raising prices as the economic downturn expands their customer base.

    A new 99 cent store on Nostrand Avenue near Avenue X comes on the heels of the opening of another dollar store on Ocean Avenue and Avenue Z, which itself came after an expansion of another store on Nostrand Avenue.

    But the openings aren’t some local phenomenon; they mirror a national trend of multiplying dollar store locations capitalizing on the recession. According to Daily Finance, the chain dollar stores are luring away shoppers from retail powerhouses like Walmart, and showing some of the strongest stock prices.

    Chains such as Dollar Tree (DLTR), Family Dollar Stores (FDO) and Dollar General (DG) are hitting the world’s largest retailer where it hurts — in the food and pharmacy aisles. The rock-bottom discounters are revamping their stores and replacing no-name products with nationally known brands, luring in both the low-income shoppers who have been Walmart’s core customers and higher-income households getting thriftier in hard times.

    Locally, dollar stores are looking at the surge in shoppers as an opportunity to expand stock and raise prices. Jonah’s 99 Cent Store at 1644 Sheepshead Bay Road has been selling larger items for more than a buck for years, but they’ve lately expanded on those offerings. Closer to the train station, Sheepshead Bay Road’s other 99 cent store has also started offering items that previously cost no more than its namesake, especially on pharmacy items like deodorant that Daily Finance pinned as best-sellers.

    The story is the same at buck businesses all over the neighborhood.

    In our neck of the woods, the penny-pincher’s paradise has always been the 99 Cents The Limit store on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue Z. The large storefront, complete with parking lot and a wide assortment of food items, has been drawing customers from all over Southern Brooklyn for years by keeping to its promise of items priced no more than 99 cents.

    But, according to one upset reader, that’s no longer the case. He writes:

    The 99 cents store on Avenue Z and Coney Island needs to change its name. They call themselves 99 Cents The Limit. Yet now they’ve introduced a lot of products priced at $1.49 and $1.99. While some of these items are new product and perhaps a little better some are as close or a match for things they’ve sold for 99 cents before. I don’t know how many customers they’ll lose but I have to wonder how many people are going to drive all the way to a place where they won’t be saving as much as they did before. Some customers I spoke to in there seemed to be passively accepting the change. But in this “Great Recession” the place was a paradise for those on a tight budget.

    Though the prices are increasing, they’re still much lower than competitors selling similar items like CVS and Stop & Shop. Still, it appears that the “99 Cent” branding will soon be an anachronism as these businesses begin to flex their retail muscle.

    The question is, as item prices continue to rise, at what point will they stop being called dollar stores, and will they still draw shoppers?

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    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

      The one on Avenue Z and Coney Island Avenue will soon change it’s name. It’s new moniker will be “The Sky’s The Limit”.

    • Anonymous

      The 99 cents The Limit was the last bastion of the TRUE 99 cents store. The other stores of this retail type have long since amended their signs to “and up”. I always ask the question: “What are they up to?”. My favorite sign is the one on Nostrand Avenue and Z. “Everything or Less”

      http://www.flickr.com/photos/paypaul/5063338545/

      Most of the items in those “99 cents and up” stores are not unit priced and one can get a big surprise at the counter. So far I’ve seen the “Limit” store has stickers most of these new items. With the exception of holiday prices for Passover and Hanukkah items, the store sold items that would cost 2 to 4 times as much elsewhere. An excellent example would be the Kozy Shack puddings which retail around $3 in most supermarkets. The best deal yet was when they would have 6 Perdue drumsticks for 99 cents. It’s a shame more people are not “upset” over this.

      “Retail muscle” can go flabby real fast if enough people show dissatisfaction. While I was there yesterday a number of higher priced items were left on the counters and side shelves in front of the cashier lines. Some of them didn’t look half bad like the dinners with shrimp and linguine. Yet with all the higher priced items a lot of the 99 cents products will be losing shelf space as a result.

      The saddest thing of all is I’m certain the employees of this store are not getting a raise as a result of the price hikes.

    • Anonymous

      Talk about the Grinch.

    • BrooklynBus

      They don’t have to change their name. 99 cents is still the limit. Nothing costs less than that (except the items that are 2 for 99 cents.) Even if they raise their prices, still it won’t be a a problem until most of the items start costing more than 99 cents.

      But now I really feel old because I remember when these stores were first introduced in NYC in the early 1970s as 69 cents stores and when people started complaining in the 80s that some items were now costing 99 cents. So I guess the day is coming when we will be shopping at the $1.49 stores.

      • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

        I remember the 69 cent stores in the late 60s. That chain eventually raised it’s prices (and its name) to 99 cents by the late 70s. In those days we had serious inflation. Nevertheles, it hurt their business and eventually they folded.

        It’s in the background of this 1975 photo, taken on Chambers Street.

        http://www.sohoblues.com/Tribeca_1970s/chambersstreet.htm?size=2&exif=

    • Laurkin

      Man I love this store and I have constantly praised it for keeping its prices the same. This is quite disappointing!

    • winson

      i went to the Coney Island Avenue 99 cents many times during my nine years at P.S.209

    • Jal5503

      freaking shame

    • Anniebrooklyn

      YES! I totally agree, it really bothers me that “Dollar” stores are not a dollar at all. I have definitely noticed the direction they have been going in for quite awhile. It’s disappointing.

      • Anonymous

        You’re right. The “Dollar” stores are $1, $2, $5, $10 etc. The only truth to their name is you can pay them in Dollars.

    • http://www.flickr.com/knightmare6 Knightmare6

      I don’t mind dollar stores stocking items that cost more than a dollar, but if they insist on the name being used, then they should have at least 65-70% of the items there for a dollar or less. They could pass some law to help regulate that type of store, kinda like how adult stores often stock books and etc. of a non-adult variety to bypass adult-entertainment regulation laws in some states.

    • Jamesforsyth

      Be careful and know the prices of the stuff you are buying. For instance, I have seen canned beans at places like this which are priced higher than what I pay at a regular grocery store.

    • Barkingspider7

      I doubt that they will lose any customers. $1.29 and $1.99 are still good prices for most of the items that they sell. I’ll remain loyal.

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    • Yk191

      f you want anything for $1 or less stick to a dollar store, such as
      Dollar Tree in NJ. This store should change its name to “prices are 99
      cents over the limit” or “99 cents no longer the limit.”
      Recently, everything that I always bought has gone up to $1.09 or higher.
      Also,
      a large percentage of the store is dedicated to items priced at $1.49
      or $1.99 and the dairy items typically expire within 2 weeks.
      In
      January, the owner responded to my complaints of higher prices by
      stating “Everything that was 99 cents will remain the same price, but
      the stuff that is higher priced is entirely new things only.” In April
      He Called me A LIAR and said “I said no such thing, What do you expect,
      costs are up, gas prices are up, everything goes up everywhere.”