&gt;Can you imagine not having anywhere to buy food and having to drive 3 hours just to get it?&lt;<p>That&#x27;s a very real and serious problem for low-income and fixed-income consumers...many of whom are forced to shop wherever they reasonably can...<p>There are many &quot;food deserts&quot;--areas where it&#x27;s difficult to buy affordable good quality food--in the U.S., especially in  sparsely populated urban and rural areas...<p>It&#x27;s true that if the need (demand) is great enough in an area a retailer of some sort will probably eventually open shop to fill the void...waiting for that to happen can be very painful for the poorest consumers...<p>The best hope for communities abandoned by Wal Mart may turn out to be franchises related to the &quot;dollar store&quot; concept...<p>How Dollar Stores Were Planted in the South and Bloomed...<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.atlasobscura.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;how-dollar-stores-were-planted-in-the-south-and-bloomed-around-the-us" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.atlasobscura.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;how-dollar-stores-were-...</a><p>Dollar Stores: Big Business, Rock-Bottom Prices...<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;tedium.co&#x2F;2016&#x2F;01&#x2F;19&#x2F;dollar-stores-analysis&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;tedium.co&#x2F;2016&#x2F;01&#x2F;19&#x2F;dollar-stores-analysis&#x2F;</a>