Local Measures to Curb Dollar Store Growth: A Policy Scan

In recent years, advocates have expressed concern about the exponential growth of dollar stores in low-income communities, given their limited stock of healthy foods, and several municipalities in the U.S. have passed novel policies to curb the proliferation of these stores. The purpose of this scan is to create a legal database to inform future healthy retail policies and programs. Legal mapping methods were used to identify local policies aimed at moderating dollar store proliferation. A search yielded 25 policies that met the inclusion criteria, all enacted between 2018 and 2020. Recent policies aiming to slow local dollar store growth were mostly passed in low-income communities of color. All identified policies were passed in either the Midwest or South. The majority of municipalities that passed the policies had populations where more than half of residents identified as non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic and where the poverty rate was greater than the national average. Twelve (48%) municipalities imposed temporary moratoria halting new dollar stores from opening, and ten (40%) banned new construction within a specified distance of an existing dollar store. Key themes identified from analysis of policies’ purpose statements included increasing healthy food availability, diversifying local businesses, and improving community safety. These findings may be useful to leaders in other communities seeking to potentially moderate the impact of dollar stores on community health, as well as researchers and policy makers seeking to evaluate the efficacy of existing policies.