UnfairNation

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πŸ’° If I Had a Dollar …

πŸ’° If I Had a Dollar …

What the rise of dollar stores tells us about inequality

Ehsan Zaffar's avatar
Ehsan Zaffar
Jun 12, 2023
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πŸ’° If I Had a Dollar …
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In 1995 Dollar Tree Stores Inc. went public. That’s the company that operates all those dollar stores you see in strip malls across America.

Because you read UnfairNation, you’re a smart person who understands a lot about income inequality - so you decided to buy $1000 of Dollar Tree stock in 1995, right on opening day … for a dollar per share.

This was the dot-com era of high profits and budget surpluses - your friends said you were crazy buying a stock designed to sell high-volume, poor quality merchandise. β€œAt least invest in something reasonable in the same category, a business with a future, like a department store!”

So you took their advice, hedging your bet, and bought $1000 worth of three upmarket retailers: J.C. Penney, Macy’s and Sears - you know … companies that sold things for more than a dollar and were located in upper middle class, affluent neighborhoods.

Just for kicks you also bought some shares of a really affluent retailer, like Tiffany’s.

I think you know where this is…

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