Dollar-Store Concept Translates Into One-Euro Products As FMCG Companies In Europe Aim For Budget-Conscious Consumers

Consumer goods companies, retailers, and restaurants in the euro zone, taking their cue from the popular dollar stores in the United States, are introducing €1-priced products aimed at shoppers looking for good bargains. FMCG companies, including Unilever and Danone, and restaurant chains Starbucks Corp. and McDonald’s Corp. have launched one-euro products to help create demand in a consumer market still reeling from the effects of a slow economy. Families in Italy, for example, are cutting back on purchases including basic staples, as the country’s poverty rate shoots up to 14 percent. First gaining a foothold in Europe in 1990 with the UK’s Poundland Ltd.’s chain of “dollar stores”, which grew to 450 branches, the dollar-store concept moved on to mainland Europe by way of Germany, where several retail chains focus on selling one-euro products.