My solid expectations, the 99 Cents store is coming back with a new branding, and trying to gear us away from valuing the store as a buck store. They tried the strategy by changing the name, introducing more expensive merchandise, yet the 99 cents store is a shark that at a point of time crushed the competition from non-branded 99 cents depots. This move will make the only survivor, the Dollar Store, has the green light to increase their prices from the current $1.25. 99 Cents store non-existence in the market, will give that signal to the Dollar Store that they can pump their prices. Once a new price floor is established, the rebranded 99 Cents store will be back.
In Marketing, this will be taught as a business case, but for the economics part, this is disadvantage for your hard working dollar, the worthless giant, thanks to inflation.
If you have been to the closing stores, hoarding is the first thing that comes to mind. Customers are putting their hands on anything they can get. You can not blame people, the inflation that has hit us after Covid where we experienced empty shelves, taught us to hoard, and when your Benjamin can go along way, that is how you roll.
Back to the article question, how can we survive? I depended on the 99 Cents store for survival. It was recently I stopped going to the 99 Cents store when nothing at the store cost 99 cents. It lost its value. As a savvy consumer, I could get what I needed from other grocery stores, I just have to get what is on sale. And because we are Covid survivors, and hoarding is how we do it, when things are in good sale, I pile up, and you do too, right?
Another great alternative I have came across recently is TEMU, I was introduced to Temu when they aired their multimillion ad on NFL SuperBowl game where Mahomes won the game for the Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers.
Temu offers free shipping and most items are very well priced. Give it a try. Use this link to get a coupon if you are a new user. If you already used the all, here is the trick. Remove the Temu app and reinstall after 15 days, and you can use this great coupon and save yourself some money.