a brilliant buck

Please tell me that I am not the only loser that had absolutely no idea that the "dollar" store concept generates billions of dollars? Billions. What got me started on this one you might ask? Short story long...

Gage and I went to the movies at a mall that houses a variety of discount stores including Macy's, Mervyn's and Applebee's. Not one of my favorite haunts. We spent about 10 minutes and $7.00 plus tax and left with 2 power ranger coloring books, a bag of plastic green army men and a sheet of temporary tattoos. Now if you're a math whiz like me (not) you may wonder why we paid $7.00 for 4 items at a "dollar" store. I was curious too, especially after the tattoos ended up a bust and were stuck to the paper. So, I opened the laptop and hit google.

What I found ASTOUNDED me. Now, I admit I did a little too much research but I just couldn't stop. Look at these numbers...

1. Dollar General has over 8200 stores in 35 states. They generated $9.5 Billion dollars in 2007 and comp store sales were +3.5%

2. Dollar Tree sells everything at $1.00 or less (they were the only company to say this) and reported sales of $4.24 Billion in 2007

3. Family Dollar Store advertises that most items are under $10.00, has 6500 stores in 44 states and generated $6.8 Billion last year.

4. My Dollar Store is a franchise concept that didn't overtly advertise sales or number of sales.

The store we visited was a "Dollar Plus" however I have not been able to find any credible corporate information on them. Based on what I did see on line however, my guess is that it's a random franchise group trying to cash in. Smart. But I'm still bummed about the tattoos.