I’ve changed my tune on dollar stores, but Black neighborhoods still need full-service grocers

Another day, another dollar store.

Those were my thoughts several months ago when I watched the conversion of a long-shuttered Save A Lot discount grocer into a discount Family Dollar at 83rd Street and Stony Island Avenue. Many of us in the Avalon Park neighborhood wished for a grocery store instead.

Dollar store chains love Black neighborhoods in Chicago. Dollar Tree (green sign) owns Family Dollar (orange and red sign). On Stony Island alone, there’s a Family Dollar on 89th Street, Dollar Tree on 87th Street, Family Dollar on 76th Street and Dollar Tree on 72nd Street.

With the new one on 83rd Street, that brings the number to five, all on the same busy thoroughfare. I’m beyond intrigued at the economic model and competition among stores so close to each other. I requested an interview with a company honcho, but Family Dollar sent a boilerplate statement in corporate speak that said “We run a series of predictive models” and “real estate availability.”

But the company made a compelling point in the same statement about consumer demand, including not-so-veiled digs at Walmart and Target: “As many ‘’big box’ retailers have closed in Chicago neighborhoods in recent months, we are investing in Chicago, with locations in 46 wards throughout the city and 84% of all Chicago consumers shopping at dollar stores for quick-trip, essential ‘fill-in’ purchases, including basic household goods and food such as milk, frozen foods and assorted dry goods.”

Can’t argue with that statement.

As grocery and big-box stores close up shop in Chicago, dollar stores do fill a void in Black neighborhoods. While Walmart pivoted from rural to urban centers like Chicago without the success the giant retailer predicted, dollar stores seem to have figured out where the buck stops.

In 2008, a Family Dollar spokesman did talk to me on the record and said the chain was implementing an “aggressive urban initiative” because people in big cities might not have access to a car to shop at a big-box. The dollar store provides convenience, and that business move is paying dividends with multiple nearby locations on the South and West sides of the city.

A turnoff to other potential businesses?

But folks are tired of dollar stores as their main shopping option. An anti-dollar store movement is growing here and nationally, as some lawmakers try to stop their expansion in their communities.

Sure, the chains have expanded food offerings, but they are not full-service grocers with fresh produce. Too much canned and processed food — and that hurts low-income communities. But to be clear, food insecurity hurts Black neighborhoods regardless of their residents’ socioeconomic status.

I, too, have turned my nose up at dollar stores, hungry for better shopping options. But during the pandemic I changed my tune. The chains always had sold-out-everywhere-else disinfectant wipes. (It’s also good for discount holiday decorations.)

Living near so many dollar stores means I shop there because I don’t have many other choices. But critics question whether the ubiquitous nature of dollar stores turns off other potential businesses from opening.

Even in the integrated Beverly neighborhood, the presence of dollar stores is seen as lowbrow. Ald. Matt O’Shea of the 19th Ward has tried to block Dollar Tree from opening on Western Avenue. When I called the city to get a status update, I was told the chain does not have an active business license.

The same thing is curiously happening back on 83rd and Stony Island. On Sunday, I went by to see when Family Dollar will open. Through the windows I saw the aisles fully stocked and bright fluorescent lights, but a handwritten exterior sign said “Store closed.”

I emailed corporate; no response this time. According to the city, there’s no active license, and additional inspections must be completed. Yet household goods are in plain view.

I saw another sign on the building that says “For rent.” I called the number to find out what’s going on with the property. The person is trying to recruit up to 13,000 square feet of space in the building, but separate from Family Dollar. No one is interested yet.

That square footage is big enough for a Trader Joe’s. Wishful thinking, for sure.

Natalie Moore is a reporter for WBEZ and writes a column for the Chicago Sun-Times.

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