"Ten, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen", he said. With that, he ended the count, took his hand full of my 92 cents, poised it over top of a money jar and smilingly suggested rather than asked that I agree to the donation. I said no and placed my hand between his and the money jar lest there be a slip. Disappointed resignation registered on his face as he allowed the coins to drop in my hand. One has to wonder if the clerk was trained or a natural.
Having rescued my change, I looked at the jar on the cluttered counter to see what the collection was for. The sign said "Learn to Read" and "Donate Your Change". Next to the jar was a pamphlet saying the same thing with the Dollar General Logo and an image of a kind adult reading to a curious child. At the web page related to the promo there is an image of a young healthy female adult, reading. Next to this are printed bullets for grant information. There's also a moving story in there somewhere about the original owner being an educationally-challenged entrepreneur.
One wonders how there can possibly be an illiteracy problem in the United States of America, given that public school education has been compulsory since 1918 (Mississippi was the last state to adopt the mandate.) Putting a fine point on this, first-grade assessment tests require the student to recognize "sight words". If a student can not read the practice assessment test, a specialist is summoned immediately (by policy if not by legislation). This holds true for each grade level following.
As far as the campaign being useful as a "read more" mission to the citizens. . . don't make me laugh. Read what - romance novels and guides for dummies on sale at Dollar General?
Collecting change is one of the best methods of sucking it out of us poor suckers. Furthermore, it's cash . . . off the books, into coin-counting machines, then dispensed through the aether of non-profit administration. The bonus: There is light skim on heavy metal, the clerks can't steal too much without making a lot of noise.
One could expect no better performance from those wild and crazy speculators from back in the day, KKR, now handlers of Dollar General (and the inspiration for the James Garner classic, Barbarians at the Gate).
Dollar General's recent history a la Wiki:
On July 6, 2007, all shares of Dollar General stock were acquired by private equity investors for $22.00 per share. An investment group consisting of affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), GS Capital Partners (an affiliate of Goldman Sachs), Citigroup Private Equity and other co-investors completed an acquisition of Dollar General Corporation for a total enterprise value of $7.3 billion.[3]
As a part of the transition to a privately held company, Dollar General is assessing each location as leases run out against a model known as "EZ Stores". This assessment includes evaluating whether the location has a loading dock, garbage dumpsters, adequate parking, and acceptable profitability. Stores that do not pass this evaluation are relocated or closed. Over 400 stores have been closed as part of this initiative.[4]
In August 2009, the company announced it will file for an initial public offering, turning the company, again, into a publicly traded corporation.[5] Although the timing of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) was not announced by Dollar General or KKR, Dollar General filed on August 20, 2009 for an initial offering of up to $750 Million[6] The return of Dollar General to public ownership has been estimated to deliver up to a 30% increase in value to KKR over the two-year period it will have been private, making it a rare gem in KKR's current portfolio.
Prior to going public on 20 August (HBM) 2009, notice of good times ahead was signaled by marketing researchers Retail Forward and highlighted by Sarah M. Jones of the Chicago Tribune on 9 May 2009:
Nearly half of all U.S. households shop at dollar stores each month, up from 36% in 2002, according to Retail Forward, a Columbus, Ohio, market research firm. Shoppers of all income levels are walking through the doors.
Jones' article finished up with the really, really good news:
The three biggest dollar store chains all reported sales gains at stores open at least a year, a key metric of retail health, even as retail sales industry-wide fell.
So-called same-store sales at Dollar General Corp., the largest of the three, rose 9.4% for the fiscal quarter that ended Jan. 30. At Family Dollar Stores Inc., the No. 2 dollar store, same-store sales rose 6.4% for the fiscal quarter that ended Feb. 28. And at Dollar Tree Inc., same-store sales for the fiscal quarter that ended May 2 climbed 9.2%.
At the same time, all three chains are expanding. Dollar General plans to open 450 stores this year. And Family Dollar and Dollar Tree plan to open more than 200 each.
So, let's get this straight: When KKR purchased Dollar General they closed 400 stores and transitioned to a private enterprise. Two years later KKR put DG back on the public market and promised to open 450 new stores. Hunh.
Perhaps barbarians do change armor but they won't get my coins for their smelting operations and tax write-offs. If anyone is going to roll coins and get a tax credit, better I than they. If my donations are so paltry as to be useful only in a pooled fund, then I'd prefer to simply pass it on to a natural person closer to home - maybe to a young child's piggy bank or a sidewalk performer or a local community effort. Maybe even tipping the pizza guy an extra buck.
