For Rhode Islanders who live in neighborhoods without a full-service grocer, a so-called dollar store can be a convenient and affordable place to buy food.
And it’s becoming a bigger part of the way Americans shop. A 2023 study by University of Rhode Island public health professor Wenhui Feng found dollar stores were the fastest-growing food retailer from 2008 to 2020, with household spending there rising nearly 90% nationally and more than 100% in rural areas.
But the rise of dollar stores raises a question that goes beyond whether they give people another place to buy food: What kind of food are they providing?
Now, Feng is leading a new three-year, $1 million study examining how households use dollar stores to buy food, what they purchase and how those purchases fit into their overall diets.
“This isn’t about whether dollar stores are good or bad,” Feng said. “We just want to understand how consumers are using them.”
Nessa J. Richman, executive director of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, said the difference between a dollar store and a full-service grocery store is immediately noticeable.
“When you walk into a grocery store that’s in a higher-income neighborhood, what do you usually see when you walk in the door? A beautiful produce section,” Richman said. “When you walk into a store in a lower-income area, often what you see is a literal wall of 2-liter bottles of soda.”
The study comes as dollar stores continue to expand rapidly. There were more than 39,000 such retailers in the U.S. in 2025, up about 4,700 from 2021, according to Statista.
Dollar General Corp. opened 725 new stores nationwide last year alone, while Dollar Tree Inc. opened 402. And groceries accounted for more than 80% of Dollar General’s sales in 2025.
In Rhode Island, Dollar General’s footprint grew from 24 stores in early 2024 to 26 a year later, while Dollar Tree operates 40 locations statewide.
The new study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will combine household food-purchase data with interviews with shoppers and community stakeholders.
For Feng, the goal is to better understand why people choose dollar stores and how they balance price, convenience and nutrition.
That means looking beyond the store itself and at the role it plays in a household’s overall food shopping. A dollar-store purchase may be driven by price or convenience, Feng said, but the new study will examine how those choices fit alongside purchases from grocery stores and other food retailers.
Richman said the growing presence of dollar stores does not necessarily mean they are creating food-access problems. In many cases, she said, they are moving into communities where residents already lack a full-service grocery store.
“If you talk to folks in neighborhoods that lack full-service grocery stores and ask them whether they would want a full-service grocery store with a produce section or a dollar store, they would tell you that they’d like a produce section, just like anyone else,” she said.
But when a full-service grocery store is not available – especially for people with limited transportation – a dollar store can be better than having no nearby food retailer at all.
“A dollar store is certainly better than nothing, especially for individuals who have limited transportation options,” Richman said.
That can make convenience and price just as important as the quality or variety of the food on the shelves, she said.
Dollar General said it is already expanding those offerings.
In a statement to PBN, the company said it now sells fresh fruits and vegetables in more than 7,000 stores nationwide, along with refrigerated and frozen foods, dairy products, proteins and grains. It also pointed to its “Better For You” program, which highlights products aimed at different dietary preferences and wellness needs.
“As we continue to evolve our food offerings, we remain focused on understanding and meeting the needs of the communities we serve,” Dollar General said.
Dollar Tree did not respond to requests for comment.
The expansion of dollar stores has also raised questions about what happens to the grocery stores already serving those communities.
Feng’s earlier research found that grocery-store numbers have declined nationally while dollar stores and supercenters have picked up much of the lost share, particularly in rural areas.
Other research has found dollar-store expansion can put pressure on independent grocery stores, with the effects more pronounced in rural communities.
But Feng’s research does not establish whether dollar stores are displacing grocers or filling gaps left by them.
Meanwhile, Richman sees an opportunity for dollar stores to offer more fresh produce, whole foods and less-processed options while sourcing from local and regional producers, giving those businesses another outlet for their products.
“There are a lot of things that dollar stores could be doing in order to fill the need in a way that would be better for everyone,” Richman said.