PODCAST: Is a Recession Coming?

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• 15 Best Things to Buy at Dollar Stores (Dollar Tree Included)
• 17 Worst Things to Buy at Dollar Stores (Dollar Tree Included)
• Kiplinger’s Economic Outlooks: GDP
• Why Inverted Yield Curve Panic Is Overdone
• Kiplinger’s Economic Outlooks: Fuel Prices
• How Gas Prices Are Determined

Transcript:

David Muhlbaum: There’s a lot of talk of recession out there. Is our economy going to experience one soon? Jim Patterson, managing editor of The Kiplinger Letter, will take that question head on. We’ll also revisit dollar stores for a deal or no deal review with Bob Niedt, Kiplinger’s retail specialist. All coming up on this episode of Your Money’s Worth.

David Muhlbaum: Welcome to Your Money’s Worth. I’m kiplinger.com senior editor David Muhlbaum, joined by my co-host, Kiplinger senior editor Sandy Block. Sandy, how are you doing?

Sandy Block: I’m good, David. I’m just doing great.

David Muhlbaum: Okay, good. Well, good. Well, we’re going to break from tradition here today and we are going to have a guest on our opening segment. So say hi to the good people, Bob Niedt.

Bob Niedt: Hello, hello.

David Muhlbaum: Yeah. Bob has the retail beat here at Kiplinger, and that includes dollar stores. It didn’t go unnoticed, shall we say, that I made a somewhat sniffy sounding remark about dollar stores in our last episode. So in fairness to, well, dollar stores, I thought we should have Bob on to talk about what dollar stores do well and what they don’t, from a consumer point, that is. What’s the deal and what’s not? But before we dig in, Sandy, just to follow up, where did you buy that $3 bottle of wine when we were talking about this?

Sandy Block: Well, actually, I bought two bottles of wine. One was $5, one was $3. It was at a Dollar General outside Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

David Muhlbaum: Got it. Now, okay, and so Bob, this brings me to one of my classic definitional questions to start out. First of all, it proves that not everything in a dollar store is a dollar anymore. Sometimes not even the dollar items are... Anyway, we’ll get to that. But you write about dollar stores in the generic, but we’ve got several big chains, right? There’s Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar. And plus, sometimes there’s still some of these holdout independent little stores, right? So the guidance you’re going to give us, can we apply it broadly?

Bob Niedt: I would say for the most part, a little bit, but a little bit no. For example, Dollar Tree is the biggest dollar store in the U.S. And Canada. They also own Family Dollar, so they’re one in the same. Dollar General is a separate entity. Dollar Tree is the one that sticks more closely to the everything is a dollar, now $1.25, rule. The other stores, they may go up to $5. Not much higher than that, usually though.

Sandy Block: So as David hinted in his snarky way, I know my way around dollar stores and I do shop there. I got some very nicely priced dog treats there just last week. But Bob, am I doing it right? What are the best things to buy at dollar stores?

I have some of my favorites, and I think at the top of the list is greeting cards from Dollar Tree. They’re made by Hallmark. They’re quality cards. And usually, you can get