A growing bipartisan coalition of Congress members is echoing their call to action on astounding price discrepancies at Dollar General and Family Dollar stores. Collectively, these grocers operate over 28,000 outlets across the U.S. The lawmakers, led by U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski of Illinois, have sent a letter to the CEOs of both chains, demanding answers regarding the alarming differences between shelf prices and register prices.
Most recently, a surprise state inspection in North Carolina uncovered a shameful disparity in pricing. One of the inspectors found that a pack of Bounty paper towels was priced $10.99 on the shelf but rang up as $15.50 at checkout. Sadly, this incident is not an outlier. Lawmakers have maintained that these huge, systemic disparities call into serious question corporate practices and consumer transparency.
Budzinski and 29 of her Democratic colleagues joined in sending a letter to Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos and Family Dollar CEO Duncan MacNaughton. They asked for four years’ worth of correspondence concerning price labeling practices. Amid a larger, broader American affordability crisis, Americans are holding them to account. Household incomes have stagnated, as consumer prices continue to rise, with grocery prices surging perhaps the most.
In particular, Budzinski focused on the proliferation of Dollar General and Family Dollar stores in her district. She noted that these are 30 total sites. She said that it was unclear what this means for the consumers that depend on these brick-and-mortar retailers for access to affordable goods.
“These staggering numbers lead us to wonder how seriously your companies prioritize affordability, consumer transparency and corporate ethics for the constituents we represent,” – U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), along with two economic justice organizations—Groundwork Collaborative and Public Citizen—have endorsed the letter. Changing prices affects the lowest-income households the most, said UFCW’s director of legislative and political action department Ademola Oyefeso. These inconsistencies have profound effects on consumers and workers alike.
Lawmakers are questioning whether these stores are on the up and up. For instance, they have called out the fact that many places are dependent on one or two staff members during peak times. These workers are stretched thin across all aspects of store operations, from stocking shelves to ringing up transactions to loss prevention to even cleaning the stores themselves. When and how are staff supposed to guarantee pricing integrity, particularly in an environment with such high-pressure, fast-moving retail floors?
“When some retailers see a way to save money,” – Ademola Oyefeso.
As lawmakers investigate potential federal enforcement mechanisms, they aim to standardize protections across states, as not all states currently inspect businesses for pricing accuracy. This mismatch makes it even harder for companies to be held accountable for their price gouging behavior.
In addition to asking for an investigation, the letter addressed a lack of internal auditing systems at Dollar General and Family Dollar. These systems seem to have missed recurring pricing mistakes before state audits.
“Why have your stores’ internal auditing systems continuously failed to detect pricing error rates of this magnitude before state inspectors arrive?” – U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski.
Both companies have responded to the scrutiny. Family Dollar stated, “we take customer trust seriously and are committed to ensuring pricing accuracy across our stores.” Dollar General is absolutely committed to accurate pricing. Nowhere do they admit to their great failure when they don’t reach that goal.
In a detailed statement, Public Citizen’s director of Congress Watch Joshua Miller criticized large corporations. He blasted them on their inability to prove accountability more than ever in an economic crisis.
“Corporations cannot be allowed to screw over consumers without accountability,” – Joshua Miller.
Miller had more to say on the plight of everyday Americans during this time of unprecedented costs.
“With everyone struggling with this Trump-induced affordability crisis, the last thing people need is to be walking into stores that are advertised as being affordable only for them to get the switcheroo,” – Joshua Miller.
Budzinski spoke to the larger impact of these practices on American consumers, especially those who rely on affordable retailers.
“People are coming in their doors banking on affordable options. But really what’s happening – and what was really exposed, I think, in the story – was that [the companies] are engaging in deceptive pricing and that there’s little recourse right now for the customers,” – U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski.
In lawsuits, members of Congress have claimed that Dollar General and Family Dollar stores have the same problems across the country. These issues aren’t only restricted to regional geographic areas or single news outlets. Their complaint is that these proven violations indicate systemic issues in corporate behavior. As a result, shoppers are forced to pay far more for the grocery staples they need just when they can least afford it.
“Not isolated to a geographic area or to a handful of stores across the country. Instead, the scale of documented violations seems to be the result of systemic failure within your corporate operations, leading to customers overpaying for their groceries, potentially without knowing,” – U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski.