The number of dollar stores in Wayne County is growing. The recent opening of a Dollar Tree in Richmond brings the total to 22. While the stores fulfill a need for shoppers on a budget, they can also have effects on the health of a community.
The growth isn’t just in Wayne County as the stores have multiplied in similar communities across the U.S.; mostly in rural or urban areas of lower socioeconomic status, or in defined food deserts that lack access to fresh produce.
“They seem to thrive in communities of our size,” said Jen Ferrell, co-owner of Richmond’s Radford’s Meat Market & Deli.
Even if they offer competition, she understands the discount stores fill a role.
“I suppose they offer convenience, are open late and I think that people like the ‘thrill of the hunt’ that they offer with frequently rotating seasonal items,” said Ferrell. Radford’s opened in 1989 at 16 S.W. 18th St. Ferrell and her husband, Tom, now own it along with a second east-side location, which opened in 2017.
Cambridge City Super Market’s manager Scott Morrill, who took over store operations in February, knows customers and businesses depend on his local offerings.
He also knows the dollar stores offer a price point that is hard for some to resist. “You may not get the same ounces or same weight, but you are getting the same item at a better bang for your buck,” Morrill said.
In years past, locally owned businesses like Cambridge City Super Market and Radford’s were the default option for grocery shoppers. That changed with the rise of big box, all-purpose retailers, like Walmart.
As consumers flocked to the convenience and low prices, local grocers shuttered, downtown business districts saw less activity, and communities became even more dependent on corporate chain options.
According to the Institute For Local Self-Reliance, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and its subsidiary, Family Dollar, operated 34,000 stores as of January 2022, more than Walmart, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Target combined.
Richmond Board of Zoning Appeals member Nathan Sheets says he sees the benefit of a dollar store over the alternative of an empty building.
“It does allow for some new jobs, and does offer affordable goods for all people, but especially people with fixed or low incomes,” Sheets said.
ILSR highlights how short-term affordability can come at a long-term cost to the communities served. Lawsuits and consumer complaints over the years allege that Walmart’s industry dominance — owning 38.4% of grocery store market share — was a result of labor practices that violated the Robinson-Patman Act that was created to prevent predatory pricing and price discrimination. Industry observers say Dollar General and Dollar Tree have replicated this strategy at an even lower operating cost, eliminating competitors.
Kelly Wilkinson, dean of IU East’s School of Business and Economics, shared with WWN how the companies’ inexpensive strategy keeps funds from circulating in communities and offers meager additions to the local workforce.
Beyond the economic impact, another cost is involved.
“It’s about health, too, and the health cost,” said Wilkinson. “Because if you’re only getting, you know, most anything in a can, most anything that’s been processed, there’s high salt and all of that.”
Numerous studies show the health dangers of processed and prepackaged foods. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 90% of Americans’ sodium consumption is from salt. Too much sodium intake raises the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. But a healthier diet, which includes fresh fruit and vegetables, can be harder to find at inexpensive retailers.
“So now you’re adding food cost and medical. So it just becomes really, it becomes a vicious cycle,” said Wilkinson.
Sheets added that the proliferation of dollar stores detracts from the development of good housing options for residents, in an area already struggling with housing options and homelessness.
“Dollar stores do not meet the requirement for the subsidies and funding that help build more affordable and permanent supportive housing,” said Sheets.
Sheets said he would love to see downtown markets to offset the growth of discount stores, and hopes Wayne County cities and towns examine all these dynamics when pursuing ideas for housing in the future.
A version of this article appeared in the May 20 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.