Dollar Stores and Rats: Can You Smell the Irony?

In case you missed it in the news recently, two events took place independently but seem nonetheless closely related. Progressive Grocer, a food industry publication, recently published a story celebrating the business success of Dollar General stores and deemed them “Retailer of the Year.” [1] Why?  Due to their phenomenal growth in the U.S. and their sound economic standing. Last year, Dollar General commanded 18,000 stores with sales of $33.7 billion in 2021.   The dollar store industry is growing rapidly – from 20,000 to 30,000 between 2015 and 2018 and up to 50,000 additional stores are planned in the near future. [2]  As shown by the figure below, Texas had the most dollar stores (3,400), followed by Florida (2,100) and Ohio (1,700). 

In a webinar that I published recently, [3] I questioned the wisdom of celebrating such an achievement in the dollar store industry.  Yes, phenomenal expansions and sales are important metrics in the business world.  But the desire to celebrate this achievement was diminished as one ponders the documented harm caused by dollar stores in communities throughout the U.S., especially food deserts that are the primary focus of their marketing strategy.  You see, food deserts are populated primarily by lower-income blacks and Latinos who show a higher prevalence of chronic illnesses that are directly associated with consuming the types of unhealthy foods sold by dollar stores. [4]  Mainstream supermarkets have made it a practice of avoiding food deserts, often citing social indicators that lower profitability.  If true, then what is driving the phenomenal growth and success of dollar stores --- sheer luck?   The reality is that food deserts often show substantial food expenditures that are derived from employment income and SNAP food benefits – a fact that is well documented by federal sources of information such as the Census Bureau and USDA. [5]

The second noteworthy event is the story about 1,000 rodents that were discovered recently at the Family Dollar store distribution center in Arkansas. According to the story, the FDA announced a recall for items purchased at stores in six southern states. The FDA inspection followed a consumer complaint which discovered inside the building live rodents, dead rodents in “various states of decay,” rodent feces, dead birds and bird droppings. [6] In their news release, Family Dollar listed the 404 stores that may have sold products from the contaminated facility, while it also stated that the company "is not aware of any consumer complaints or reports of illness related to this recall."  Is it possible that the absence of any consumer complaints or reports of illnesses may have provided Family Dollar executives a false sense of security about food safety and therefore precluded the need to conduct regular store inspections?  Indeed, there were dead rodents and others in various stages of decay that could have been present for weeks or months.  Shouldn’t food distribution systems be inspected on a regular schedule and not dependent on consumer complaints?  It was indeed surprising that one consumer complaint was the singular event that initiated the FDA inspection.   

This horrific state of decay in the Family Dollar distribution system should raise alarm bells about food safety at all dollar stores, especially given their rapid growth and their primary customer base – economically and medically vulnerable persons.  Our business and civic leaders, who for the moment appear inspired to address race equity issues, should be held accountable by consumers and require a response to the following three important questions:

• How often are dollar store distribution centers in the U.S. inspected by the FDA? Are these schedules of inspection similar for centers that serve communities with food deserts?
  
  
• Why have zoning laws not been adopted to limit the growth of dollar stores?, and
  
  
• When will public agencies stop incentivizing supermarket chains who continue to avoid food deserts and instead choose to enter communities that are already crowded with multiple supermarkets?

I feel a deep sense of compassion for the many residents in food deserts that find it necessary to purchase food at dollar stores to feed their families, especially knowing how easily rats can make a dollar store distribution warehouse their home for an extended period of time. The prolonged indifference shown by various stakeholders towards this issue --- including supermarket chains, dollar stores, business and civic leaders, and the FDA --- could encourage rat infestations to spread throughout food systems in the more vulnerable communities.  Let’s hope that bolder and more aggressive efforts are taken to ensure the food safety for all communities, especially the most vulnerable ones.

 Reference Notes

---

[1] Troy, M.  (2021)   2021 Retailer of the Year. Progressive Grocer, Accessed at: https://progressivegrocer.com/2021-retailer-year-dollar-general

[2]  Donahue, M. (2018 December).  The Impact of Dollar Stores and How Communities Can Fight Back,  Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Accessed at www.ilsr.org/dollar-stores

[3] Rincon, E. T. (2022)  Food Deserts:  Evaluating Their Economic Value. Rincon & Associates LLC, Accessed at:  https://youtu.be/sAGrlnAR8ug?t=00m00s

[4] Ibid 2, Donahue, M.

[5] Rincon, E.T. and Tiwari, C. (2020 March).  Demand metric for supermarket site selection: A case study. Papers in Applied Geography, https://doi.org/10.1080/23754931.2020.1712555

[6]  Associated Press (2022 February)  More than 1,000 rodents found in Family Dollar facility lead to recall of items sold in 6 states. USA Today, accessed at:  https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2022/02/19/family-dollar-rodent-infestation/6860094001/