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- Inflation is the highest since 1990 and it’s ending some of Americans’ favorite bargains.
- Dollar pizza slices, cheap Trader Joe’s wine, and even some dollar stores themselves don’t cost what they used to.
- Here are the deals inflation killed and why they’re likely gone forever.
Some of America’s favorite bargains are dead. Blame the highest inflation since 1990.
The economy is rebounding quickly, but Americans are paying the price. Massive demand has crashed into limited supply, leading businesses to hike prices at the fastest rate in decades. The Biden administration and the Federal Reserve expected the elevated inflation to quickly fade, but as the supply-chain crisis persists, prices continue to surge higher.
October data show inflation plaguing nearly every part of the US economy. In some areas, rising prices have eliminated famous deals altogether. Year-over-year inflation of 5% might not sound like much, but it means the difference between a $1 bargain and a less-compelling deal.
Here are three cheap buys that inflation has killed for good.
Erin Scott/Reuters and Lucy Nicholson/File Photo/Reuters
The last remaining major dollar store chain in the US to stand by the $1 commitment, Dollar Tree just officially raised prices to $1.25 this month.
After years of investor pressure, the discount chain finally buckled under rising supply chain and labor costs. The new price point will enable it to absorb these costs and bring profit margins back to historic levels, company execs said.
It’s also leaning into its Dollar Tree Plus collection, an assortment of items that cost between $3 and $5, which will be rolled out to 5,000 stores within the next two years.
Trader Joe’s Wine/Facebook
Trader Joe’s’ cheapest wine keeps getting pricier. The Charles Shaw brand rose to fame for its initial $2 price tag, which led to its colloquial nickname of “two-buck Chuck.” Yet finding a bottle for $2 is harder than ever.
The grocery chain first hiked prices in 2013 to $2.49, denting the wine brand’s reputation but not quite killing the moniker. Yet price growth since has led to some locations selling bottles for as much as $3.99, according to Food & Wine.
The uptick isn’t even across the US.
Trader Joe’s announced in early 2020 it would lower the price of some Charles Shaw wines in California back to $1.99 by changing the glass bottle and cork design. Yet other regions were still stuck with the higher price tag, and some California residents have since complained online that prices have rebounded from $2. Others said that, while the wine retains its $2-per-bottle price, the deal is only available when buying an entire case.
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3. The dollar slice
Few regional delicacies offer the utility of New York’s $1 pizza slice. That, too, has fallen victim to inflation.
Many of New York’s low-price pizzerias have ditched the $1 benchmark for higher prices amid pandemic-era inflation, The New York Post reported earlier in November. Rising costs for garlic, flour, and even the gas used to power pizza ovens have killed the dollar slice.
“I can list about 200 items that I’m buying for my store every week and every one of them went up 50% to 200%,” Leonardo Giordano, president of Mona Lisa Pizzeria and Ristorante in New York, said in a November Facebook comment.
The damage isn’t too bad for New Yorkers. Many restaurants only hiked their per-slice prices to $1.50, still undercutting most upmarket competitors. But with inflation still trending at historic highs, its unlikely anyone will be able to trade a $1 bill for a New York slice anytime soon.
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