Editing Variety store (section)

{{Short description|Retail store that sells inexpensive general merchandise}}
{{Redirect2|99 cents store|Dollar store|the former dollar store chain|99 Cents Only Stores|the type of store in Cuba|Dollar store (Cuba)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}[[File:99CentsOnlystore-Dallas, TX.jpg|thumb|[[99 Cents Only Stores]] in Dallas, Texas]]
[[File:Woolworth - Kresge Scranton PA vintage 78 Better Copy.jpg|thumb|[[F. W. Woolworth Company|F. W. Woolworth]] and [[Kmart|S. S. Kresge]] stores on Lackawanna Avenue, in downtown [[Scranton, Pennsylvania|Scranton]], Pennsylvania. The two stores were often found near each other in downtown areas.]]
[[File:Seattle Higo 01.jpg|thumb|An art gallery in Seattle's [[International District, Seattle, Washington|International District]] preserves the [[façade]] and some features of Higo Variety Store, an independent Japanese-American five and ten.]]
A '''variety store''' (also '''five and dime''' (historic), '''pound shop''', or '''dollar store''') is a [[retail store]] that sells general merchandise, such as [[apparel]], [[auto parts]], [[dry goods]], [[toys]], [[household hardware|hardware]], [[furniture]], and a selection of [[groceries]]. It usually sells them at discounted prices, sometimes at one or several fixed price points, such as one dollar, or historically, five and ten cents. Variety stores, as a category, are different from general merchandise superstores, [[hypermarket]]s (such as those operated by [[Target Corporation|Target]] and [[Walmart]]), [[warehouse club]]s (such as [[Costco]]), [[grocery store]]s, or [[department store]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dollar and Variety Stores|url=https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/dollar-variety-stores-industry/|publisher=IBIS World Research|access-date=21 June 2020}}</ref>

Dollar stores that sell food have been alleged to create [[Food desert|food deserts]]: areas with limited access to affordable and healthy food. This is alleged to occur when dollar stores outcompete local businesses, and soon become some of the only grocery store–like businesses available in some areas.

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