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Report Shows That Dollar Stores Are Popular for Holiday Shopping
People of all income levels and age brackets are shopping dollar stores this holiday season, according to a recent survey conducted by The NPD Group, a market-research and consumer-trends company in Port Washington, N.Y.
In the last 12 months ending in October, the number of customers frequenting stores including Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Dollar General and the 99 Cents Only Stores has inched up 3 percent compared with last year.
In the survey, some four out of 10 customers said they planned to shop at a dollar store.
“Dollar stores’ old bargain-based reputation is now more about value and variety, expanding their reach among consumers,” said Marshal Cohen, the chief industry adviser and a retail expert at The NPD Group. “Especially during the holiday-shopping season, time-starved consumers are attracted to one-stop retailers that help them minimize the surge in their spending.”
Shoppers are also spending a bit more in dollar stores, with the average spend per buyer going from $165 to $171.
Nearly one third of dollar-store spending comes from households with incomes that total more than $100,000 a year. The spending distribution among the four lower-income brackets is fairly evenly distributed with the second-highest share coming from households that have an average annual income of $25,000 to $49,999.
Gen X shoppers between the ages of 45 and 54 are the primary dollar-store buyer, representing 30 percent of spending, The NPD Group said.
