I despise dollar-esqe chain stores. They’re a scourge on communities and serve to drain the poorest areas of any circulatory wealth that would have been generated from locally owned businesses. All that money gets swept out of the state to line the pockets of investors.

Under staffed (local grocers employ 15 people on average, dollar trees, 5), under paid, sneaky prices that in the long haul don’t save anyone any money.

And worst, in cities they drape them like a net, blocking local businesses from setting up, and the ones they plop down can run at a loss for years until the locals go out of business. They’re about all you see in rural areas. Like locusts.

If towns had any sense they’d offer substantial tax breaks for locally owned businesses and a heavy tax or even outright refusal to grant business permits to these corporate vampires.

Of course they’re going to rip you off, what they’ve made short changing each customer 30 cents on every transaction is well worth a measley 6 mil. fine. A drop in the bucket.

The complaint alleges the chain has knowingly mislabeled prices and overcharged customers for years, and that, despite tens of thousands of complaints from customers regarding mislabeled products, Dollar General did not respond or work to rectify the problem.

The company entered into settlements with six state attorneys general and consumer protection agencies between 2019 and 2026 regarding these claims. In total, Dollar General has paid $6 million in penalties.

“The consequences of these overcharges fall most heavily on shoppers living on razor-thin margins—families who carefully budget every dollar and rely on accurate, transparent pricing simply to meet their day-to-day needs,” the complaint states.

The Dollar General pictured here amidst the ruins of the rural United States circa ~2026