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Cnn
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Over the past year, the financial condition of low -income Americans has deteriorated and more buyers are going without basic requirements.
This is the disturbing message that is coming from the dollar general, which sells cheap things and thus is considered a bull for the health of low and middle -income buyers. The dollar general’s “basic consumers” earn less than 40,000 in a year, and there are more than 20,000 stores in this regard, mainly in rural areas.
“Our consumers report that their financial situation has increased over the past year because their inflation has had a negative impact,” said Todd Vasos, the general CEO of the dollar on Thursday. “Many of our users have reported that they only have enough money for basic accessories, some people have noted that they have to sacrifice on their needs as well.”
For the first time in five months, inflation cooled down in February, but housing, health care and other costs are high and consumer budgets are far from it.
The dollar general said its sales at stores had only increased by 1.2 % in the last quarter for at least one year as less of its primary consumers went to buy due to “ongoing financial pressure”.
At the same time, the dollar general has been watching middle -income consumers trading at stores in recent weeks. This is a sign of financial pressure on Americans earning a little more money.
The dollar general also said that President Donald Trump’s prices related to imported goods could hurt consumers’ demand and help the company raise prices.
The company said it was “well -positioned” to reduce the impact of revenue, as it was in 2018 and 2019, though it then raised prices to eliminate revenue.
Many companies are noting the slowdown of consumers in the revenue level due to inflation, prices and rotating stock market. In an interview to Fox News on Sunday, Trump refused to reject the possibility of recession, which helped the stock market sale this week.
Delta Airlines on Monday reduced its profits approach, and warned that corporate and consumer confidence was damaging the journey demand.
But low -income consumers, and retailers who meet them, are the highest risk of inflation and economic changes.
Between September 2023 and September 2024, high -income households increased the cost by 12 %, while working classes and middle -class households reduced their spending during the same period. Moody’s analytics.
Kohl (KSS) said on Tuesday that sales could decrease by 6 % this year, which reduces its stock by 25 %. Kohl’s CEO Ashley Bochanan said on a call with analysts on Tuesday, saying that economic uncertainty has done the biggest loss to low -income users.
He said that for consumers who earn less than 100,000 annually, “they are quite limited in a year, earning less than 50,000”.
