'A visit is worthwhile': Dollar store shopping on the rise

If you live in New Brunswick, chances are there's a dollar store not too far from where you live.

In fact, Halifax-based food expert Sylvain Charlebois said New Brunswick has the most Dollarama stores per person in the country, one for every 18,000 people in the province.

Nova Scotia is second, with one Dollarama for every 22,000 people.

"Those are the highest ratios in the country,' said Charlebois, who works at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

Charlebois said shoppers who have a very tight food budget can't afford to avoid a dollar store right now.

"A visit is worthwhile because we're not talking about saving pennies here. We're talking about saving dollars. Lots of dollars," said Charlebois.

A spokesperson for Dollarama said there are currently 44 locations in New Brunswick, and Atlantic Canada represents about eight per cent of the national store base.

Charlebois doesn't think all those locations are hurting business at big grocery store chains.

"But consumers are still looking for deals so they're actually going to non-traditional grocery stores, or non-traditional stores like Walmart, Costco and of course Giant Tiger and Dollarama," said Charlebois.

Moncton-based poverty advocate, Robert MacKay, says many people in New Brunswick need those deals because the province has the lowest social assistance rates in the country.

"So, where else are you going to go when all of your costs of living have gone up do much? You're going to go to a Dollarama and you're going to get a limited selection, but you'll get it cheaper," said MacKay.

The co-chair of the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice worries those struggling with inflation won't get the nutrition they need when grocery shopping at a dollar store.

"I've never seen a fruit and vegetable department in there," said MacKay. "I really fear the cost that this is having on people's health."

The cost of living also worries John MacDonald who belongs to a church group who feeds people struggling to support themselves.

"We're feeding people who can't support themselves and they're talking, the staff is talking about, well maybe soon we'll be in the same position as the people we're helping," said MacDonald.

Like MacDonald, Rose Francis popped into a Moncton dollar store on Wednesday afternoon for a few items.

She occasionally gets grocery items for her family at discount retailers.

"It's a lot cheaper," said Francis. "Walmart, or just anything, is just going up in price. It's hard to live like that."

Dollarama reported its financial results for the second quarter Wednesday, and sales totalled $1.46 billion which is nearly a 20 per cent jump from the same period last year.

The Montreal-based discount chain has 1,525 locations across the province.

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