Retaling giants like Target Corp., Wal-Mart Canada Corp.or Canadian Tire Corp are now facing pressing threats: the fast-growing dollar strores. They have been a serious concern for years but are becoming a “bigger force” such as Dollarama Inc. and US Tree Stores Inc. who have been “expanding aggressively”.

Why is that, that “Dollar store sales are rising by about 9 per cent annually – more than three times the average annual uptick in the overall retail sector over the past five years”?   They are definitely a special type of business that has its own unique strategy. Its not as big as a Wal-mart but still offers an enourmous range of products so customers can get what they want for cheaper, and they can do all this without having to walk into a huge hipermarket; this is very convenient and saves a lot of time. And time can mean a lot for certain people.

Dollar stores “draw customers with low prices, convenience and simplicity” That could be their points of difference or brand positioning and what makes them a seriuos competitor. Is that all that has made these dollar stores have such a large influence now, that even retail giants find them threatening?

source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/how-canadas-retailers-discounted-the-rise-of-the-dollar-store/article4596897/

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