You misunderstand. I’m saying none of their stuff is sold at cheap prices. They both sell the same name brand products at higher prices per unit than competitors (just in smaller quantities), and lesser quality products at the same prices as the name brand products elsewhere. They sell cheap stuff at normal prices and normal stuff at inflated prices. They just sell them in smaller packages so the shelf price is lower, but so is what you get for that price. Instead of buying 1000 paper towel sheets for 4 dollars (250 sheets/$) they’ll sell a roll of the 600 paper towel sheets for 3 dollars (200 sheets/$) for the same brand. Yes, you only paid $3 instead of $4, but you also got less for your money.

Dollar stores take advantage of two things, 1) the average person being bad at math (or at least not doing unit math when they shop) and 2) they put their stores in areas with few other options and edge out competitors until there are no other options for people in those areas. They attract the poorest trying to save a buck, and then milk them for their money. And they both understaffed their stores and underpay their employees because people don’t have any other choice in many places these stores exists. They have a chokehold on rural areas, particularly in the south. The most amazing part of this story for me is that they are closing any stores because they are famously EVERYWHERE. They breed like rabbits. But they are terrible businesses for the consumer and they shouldn’t exist, imo.