Dollar Stores Attracting Broader Base

LAS VEGAS -- New research released from Convenience Store News sister company ACNielsen U.S. shows that the fast-growing dollar-store channel is attracting shoppers from across the income spectrum. While low-income households have the highest concentration of dollar-store shoppers, the percentage of households shopping the channel is growing fastest among the highest-income segments of the population.

Speaking at Retail Merchandiser's Dollar Store and Value Retailing Summit, Todd Hale, ACNielsen senior vice president, Consumer Insights, said, "A number of factors are converging to drive the success of dollar stores. Rapid store-count growth is making the format accessible to more people; the tough economy is prompting more people to become bargain shoppers; and dollar-store retailers have made their stores more appealing by cleaning them up and improving both the assortment of products they carry and the quality of those products."

While the dollar-store channel has made strides attracting more high-income shoppers, low-income households shop in dollar stores much more frequently. According to an ACNielsen Homescan analysis, dollar-store shoppers from households making less than $20,000 per year shopped in dollar stores 18 times in 2002. On the other hand, channel shoppers with household incomes of over $70,000 a year shopped in dollar stores just seven times in 2002.

Other demographic groups that account for a disproportionate amount of dollar-store sales include larger, less educated, blue-collar and rural households.

ACNielsen's study, The Dollar Store Consumer, is available for $495 by contacting Jan Crawford at 847-605-5000.

ACNielsen, a VNU company, is the world's leading marketing information company. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the company provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior.
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