Dollar stores as food retailers in the United States: A scoping review

Objective

This study aims to examine the role of dollar stores as food retailers in the United States and to identify gaps in existing research regarding dollar stores' impact on food access and healthy eating.

Methods

Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, this study reviewed PubMed, Web of Science, EconLit, Scopus, and AgEcon databases to identify research on dollar stores, capturing literature from May 2009 to October 4th, 2023. Only peer-reviewed U.S.-based articles were included.

Results

Few studies focused on dollar stores alone until recently. Dollar stores were often grouped together with other small storefronts. We identified 63 articles that describe dollar stores' role as food retailers. The literature pertaining to dollar stores as food retailers shifted, with the focus shifted from product offerings in the early 2010s to the business landscape recently. The business landscape theme covered the widest array of topics, while the consumer behavior theme comprised the largest number of published studies (~40 %). The most consistent results were found in the product offerings theme, as studies overwhelmingly found that foods offered in dollar stores were less healthy. The health outcome theme had the fewest number of studies, and these findings were inconsistent.

Conclusions

Dollar stores are becoming key players in the U.S. foodscape but remain limited in the availability of healthy food choices, particularly fresh produce. The evidence space of dollar stores and food access is still evolving. Further research is needed to inform public health action.