Community Member Shopping Experiences in Dollar Store Food Environments in Baltimore, Maryland

Abstract

Background: Dollar stores are a rapidly expanding yet understudied food retailer in urban settings. Community member experiences with dollar-store food environments at a local level are not well established in the current literature.

Objectives: This qualitative study sought to understand community member perspectives on dollar-store food environments and shopping experiences.

Methods: Thirty-five participants across 15 zip codes in Baltimore, Maryland completed an in-depth interview and/or engaged in a workshop between December 2022 and July 2023. A thematic analysis was utilized to construct common themes across the participants' perspectives.

Results: Six predominant themes were constructed and fell into 1 of 2 categories: food level and store level. For the food-level themes, participants described dollar-store food options as limited and low quality, yet at affordable prices. Among the store-level themes, lack of customer service, poor cleanliness, and stocking challenges in dollar stores were emphasized by participants.

Conclusions: Community members from a range of neighborhoods held similar perceptions, specifically about what could be improved about the food environment of their local dollar stores. Future research should assess the feasibility of programs and policies to systematically improve shopping experiences and ultimately support healthy food purchasing in these retail spaces.

Keywords: community-based; dollar stores; food environment; food retail; healthy food access; policy; qualitative research; urban.