Dollar General's Popshelf On Fast Track For Expansion

[Alpha8472]

Popshelf is planning to open 1,000 stores by 2025. Most items are $5 or below and the stores are bright and colorful.

Has anyone been to these stores? What are these stores like?

https://chainstoreage.com/dollar-genera ... -expansion

[storewanderer]

When Five Below runs into problems they will be in a good position to pick up some locations and run this concept there.

[veteran+]

Oh geeez......................

Not another one.......................

[storewanderer]

Oh geeez......................

Not another one.......................

This fad will pass.

Five Below will overexpand and I expect will be like many overexpanded retailers, here today and gone tomorrow.

Popshelf will survive until Dollar General runs into problems and it will be the first to go.

This store format is not sustainable or useful to anyone.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Before they go any further with anything, they really need to get their act together in their bread and butter stores. Hadn't been in a DG in months but went in there for one specific item yesterday and came away empty handed. A particular product has been out of stock at Hannaford my last few trips but according to their in stock indicator, this DG was supposed to have the item in quantity. I get in there and immediately see trouble as the place is its usual messy self with containers of freight literally right near the front door blocking a good number of aisles on one side of the store. Get over to the shelf where the item I'm after is supposed to be and see one lonely package of it which I wouldn't take if it was given to me for free. Long story short, I walked out empty handed. They lost between $20-$30 in revenue right there. Got home and checked the in stock situation again in that store and it listed the exact same number for that item as they had earlier. If the number had been different I would've chalked it up to the item getting restocked but since it was the same it leads me to believe it's not updated in real time. There was a reason I hadn't set foot in a DG in close to six months and it didn't take me long to figure out why that was so. Oh and I don't know if this is a new thing for the company but there was a hand written sign that they were not accepting checks. All in all not a great experience.

[BillyGr]

Before they go any further with anything, they really need to get their act together in their bread and butter stores. Hadn't been in a DG in months but went in there for one specific item yesterday and came away empty handed. A particular product has been out of stock at Hannaford my last few trips but according to their in stock indicator, this DG was supposed to have the item in quantity. I get in there and immediately see trouble as the place is its usual messy self with containers of freight literally right near the front door blocking a good number of aisles on one side of the store. Get over to the shelf where the item I'm after is supposed to be and see one lonely package of it which I wouldn't take if it was given to me for free. Long story short, I walked out empty handed. They lost between $20-$30 in revenue right there. Got home and checked the in stock situation again in that store and it listed the exact same number for that item as they had earlier. If the number had been different I would've chalked it up to the item getting restocked but since it was the same it leads me to believe it's not updated in real time. There was a reason I hadn't set foot in a DG in close to six months and it didn't take me long to figure out why that was so. Oh and I don't know if this is a new thing for the company but there was a hand written sign that they were not accepting checks. All in all not a great experience.

Is it possible that the system updates the number in stock when items are delivered, and they were actually there, just not unpacked and on the shelf yet?

That might be a time to ask someone, if the system shows they have them, but you don't see them.

[storewanderer]

Before they go any further with anything, they really need to get their act together in their bread and butter stores. Hadn't been in a DG in months but went in there for one specific item yesterday and came away empty handed. A particular product has been out of stock at Hannaford my last few trips but according to their in stock indicator, this DG was supposed to have the item in quantity. I get in there and immediately see trouble as the place is its usual messy self with containers of freight literally right near the front door blocking a good number of aisles on one side of the store. Get over to the shelf where the item I'm after is supposed to be and see one lonely package of it which I wouldn't take if it was given to me for free. Long story short, I walked out empty handed. They lost between $20-$30 in revenue right there. Got home and checked the in stock situation again in that store and it listed the exact same number for that item as they had earlier. If the number had been different I would've chalked it up to the item getting restocked but since it was the same it leads me to believe it's not updated in real time. There was a reason I hadn't set foot in a DG in close to six months and it didn't take me long to figure out why that was so. Oh and I don't know if this is a new thing for the company but there was a hand written sign that they were not accepting checks. All in all not a great experience.

Is it possible that the system updates the number in stock when items are delivered, and they were actually there, just not unpacked and on the shelf yet?

That might be a time to ask someone, if the system shows they have them, but you don't see them.

The... level of service... in Dollar General probably doesn't warrant asking someone. Especially in a store that is a disaster. I find the employees in stores that are a disaster, are not in any way helpful.

In a neat and organized Dollar General (some do exist), I would ask for help because those stores tend to have employees that actually care what is going on and are helpful.

But it isn't just Dollar General with this problem. I went to 4 CVS Stores tonight before I could find 2 items that according to CVS.com all 4 stores had in stock. Asking employees got me nowhere at the 3 stores that did not have the items.

[mjhale]

Oh geeez......................

Not another one.......................

This fad will pass.

Five Below will overexpand and I expect will be like many overexpanded retailers, here today and gone tomorrow.

Popshelf will survive until Dollar General runs into problems and it will be the first to go.

This store format is not sustainable or useful to anyone.

The Five Below locations near me are clean and well organized. I'm definitely not in the target demographic but Five Below has a big candy and snack section that satisfies my sweet tooth if I want a larger pack of something. In my area, Five Below seems to have been judicious about where they opened and hasn't over saturated the market. Five Below was started by the original founder of Zany Brainy and the CEO from their heyday. Zany Brainy was done in by over expansion in areas that couldn't support the high end concept or too many stores in areas that could. The start of the final downfall was buying Noodle Kidoodle which stretched the company too thin and too far. One would hope that some history would still be in the minds of those running Five Below. However if we head into a significant recession these cheapo type stores will become popular and the building could begin again. Once the economic cycle comes back around it is anyone's guess if the mass of stores will still be needed.

[storewanderer]

The Five Below locations near me are clean and well organized. I'm definitely not in the target demographic but Five Below has a big candy and snack section that satisfies my sweet tooth if I want a larger pack of something. In my area, Five Below seems to have been judicious about where they opened and hasn't over saturated the market. Five Below was started by the original founder of Zany Brainy and the CEO from their heyday. Zany Brainy was done in by over expansion in areas that couldn't support the high end concept or too many stores in areas that could. The start of the final downfall was buying Noodle Kidoodle which stretched the company too thin and too far. One would hope that some history would still be in the minds of those running Five Below. However if we head into a significant recession these cheapo type stores will become popular and the building could begin again. Once the economic cycle comes back around it is anyone's guess if the mass of stores will still be needed.

The Five Below Stores are very clean and organized (not sure I'd call their presentation exactly neat... but everything is where it belongs). The problem is they are understocked with little merchandise. They also hardly have any customers, and the customers who are there are not buying much. Their prices on scannable food and consumables are somewhere between a typical major store and a convenience store (10 for $1 non-scannable candy aside).

It is clear to me FIve Below operates with certain margin targets and isn't giving anything away on the consumables side to drive traffic (except maybe that 10 for $1 candy) the way Dollar Tree, Dollar General, etc. tend to, or used to.

Five Below has opened quite a few stores in my area and none of them have traffic. Some are stocked better than others, but none are well stocked. They do have some interesting items. Prices are above $5 now and they've taken many price increases on consumables. Their prices remind me more of a convenience store than a discount store on consumables.

The Five Below Stores usually only have 2 employees and frequently close early due to staffing shortages (they will post a sign they are closing early). The stores have 7 self checkouts and 1 regular register that is never open. They are basically a cashless store with zero service.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Call me a glutton for punishment but I tried another DG yesterday and talk about complete opposite experiences. This time around they did indeed have the item in question (a certain type of cookie I can't seem to find anywhere) and the lone employee was super helpful in showing me where it was located. Hadn't been in this unit for more than a couple of years and it's been reset into the elongated high and narrow aisle layout that one of their other local stores has had for many years prior to this. Not exactly crazy about that kind of set up to be honest. Also saw something which I had never encountered at DG previously-self checkout.