Many Americans choose to shop at Dollar stores like Family Dollar because of their affordability, an understandable reason given the increasing difficulties facing the pockets of many.
But the cost of savings often comes with quality and safety, and that became evident on Monday, February 26, when Family Dollar Stores pleaded guilty to storing products, including food, in a warehouse full of rats and dead birds, according to the Department. announced the Minister of Justice. The dollar tree (DLTR) His subsidiary will pay almost $42 million for its transgressions.
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The specific warehouse that was found infested with rodents, live and dead, is located in West Memphis, Arkansas. This warehouse served more than 400 Family Dollar stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
The FDA inspected the warehouse in 2022 and reportedly exterminated nearly 1,300 rodents, prompting a massive product recall by the company at more than 400 stores in February 2022.
The company began receiving reports in August 2020 about mouse and pest problems in deliveries to stores, and by the end of the year some stores reported receiving rodents and rodent-damaged products from the warehouse, according to the plea agreement. The company admitted that in January 2021 some employees were aware that unsanitary conditions were causing product contamination.
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The reaction against the quality of products is not exactly new. In November, Emmy Award-winning John Oliver and Last Week Tonight talked about Dollar Stores.
The program highlighted not only the rodent-infested warehouse in Arkansas, but also pointed out other negative aspects of Dollar Stores, including the fact that the products are not exactly cheaper than in regular supermarkets and the embarrassing working conditions that leave some stores with only one employee at a time. Manage entire stores time.
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