Dollar Store Services

I’ve been open since Nov 2013 and DRSS really helped me through the process of finding a location, financing, my leasing contract, merchandising, ordering and building/​setting up my store and many other things. Unlike owning a franchise, I felt I had a say in every step of the process and at any point IF I wanted to I could’ve stopped and said No to anything I didn’t like/​agree with. Some owners might not like having a merchandise package pre-​set for their 1^st order/​opening but it’s truly the best way. No one knows based on your location what is gonna be hot or not. Just because it’s hot in many other locations it might not be the hot item for your store. So after the initial opening, you have 100% freedom to re order an item or choose something different based on customer feedback. This isn’t a franchise, do what you want. There is no sure thing in anything you do. I’ve learned for my particular store to have a small amount of an item but have lots of variety and it has been great for me. Some vendors might not be so flexible with having smaller case sizes for what you want and we’ve learned that there are SO many choices/​other vendors to order from out there that we typically end up much happier than getting stuck with lots of something that didn’t end up selling. DRSS is very helpful anytime I need to call and ask for advice with a product or vendor or a display or anything at all. Remember it’s advice, it’s not a franchise, do what you want. Some things work out great, others don’t. You really just have to keep talking to your customers and find out what is popular for your location. I also HIGHLY recommend attending trade shows like toyfest and ASD here in Las Vegas (they are here twice a year). This gives you a chance to meet with current and new vendors, touch and play with new merchandise that might interest you and you can do this on your own or a representative of DRSS can spend time with you to help you as well, it’s totally your choice. All I can end with is what you get out of your business depends on the effort you put into it. It doesn’t run itself. Thank you DRSS for what you’ve helped me with and the flexibility to do what I want with my own business.

I HIGHLY recommend Dollar Store Services to anyone that is looking to open up their own business and is committed to putting in the time and effort to build their business. I opened up my dollar store a little over a year ago and I am very pleased with how the business is performing and continuing to grow.
I have over 30 years of retail experience and was ready to go out on my own. I did a tremendous amount of research, looking into franchises, buying an existing business and other opportunities before I decided to go with Dollar Store Services. I absolutely made the right choice!
Every person I encountered at DRSS was professional, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and eager to help. From the Real Estate Department to the Finance Department to the Merchandising Team, everyone did a great job of doing their part and ensuring I was satisfied and looking out for my best interests. Each phase was seamless.
After they get your store set up and opened, they call you weeky to see how things are going and if there is anything they can help with. They also continue to be a resource for any concerns or questions you may have. This is not a give them their money company and never hear from them again. They continue to be involved and are available as needed in any aspect of the business.
The bottom line is, you are paying for a service, but you are in control of all decisions. You choose the location. DRSS negotiates the lease, but you have final approval or disapproval. You choose the layout of your store and the merchandise you receive. You create the business name and most importantly the business strategy/​plan. You must own it and be involved to make your business successful.
I am looking to open up more stores and will definitely be using Dollar Store Services as I grow and expand.

Dollar Retail Store Services or DRSS is nothing but big scam. You guys ruined our good credit and character by getting us in 200K of dollars in debts. I quit my high paying salary job for your internet scams. Run away please. They pretend to help you but instead they liquidated all funds And leave you with nothing but a lot of promises. They shipped us expired food merchandise and 30boxes of useless fixture nails. And charged us over 67k and signed us a shit store lease for 3yrs over 120k total our debt to be over 200k. We sell $ 35 to $ 50 day that is not even enough to pay for the utilities bills not including the rent which is $ 2800 a month please Run away and do not do any business with DRSS or Dollar Services. This is internet scam!!! They work with unsecured funding source which they are another scammer to get the funds then they all take funds for themselves and leave you to pay. They have no kind of business plan set up. They are scammers and liars run away.

Don’t do it!
You may have seen a lot of mom and pop stores around town and think about being your own boss. Then you find DSS and they make you think it’s totally possible. I will say that they provide the turnkey service as advertised; however, do not trust the numbers they provide you on profitability. They use «estimates» based on the square foot of the store you are looking to lease. In our experience, sales weren’t even close to ½ of what they estimated. When you ask for information on the average length their customers remain in business, they give you a line about confidentiality. They do have some stores around Las Vegas that they have you tour, not telling you that they are paying the owners money for each tour. In our case, the tour money became a critical income stream because we certainly weren’t making enough money through sales alone.
When you initially meet with them, if you have good credit, they will make sure you know they can help you get funding. We asked if that included a business plan to obtain a small business loan and were led to believe this was the case. HOWEVER, when it comes time to actually fund your store, they tell you how hard it is to get a small business loan as a new business (which is true) and then refer to you Seed Capital. You pay them at least $ 5k so they can secure you various lines of credit (aka credit cards) in your personal name and some in the name of the business. Seed Capital gets you a bunch of promo rates that become 20%+ after the intro period, making the payments unaffordable. But don’t worry, they will tell you not to worry about that because you will have the cards paid off well before the intro rate ends. I wish that were the case. According to DSS numbers, it seems possible, but it absolutely is not. End result… bankruptcy.
So now you find yourself with horrible credit and you think, «well, maybe now we can salvage the business since we don’t have to shell out thousands a month in credit card payments.» I hate to say, this too is false. Even with no debt payments, there is still not enough revenue to cover the overhead. In order to survive, we would have needed to have a lease that was ½ the price.
So the key to success with DSS is to make sure you can personally fund the store up front through your own money, not credit. Secondly, make sure you are in a great location within a great shopping plaza with a low cost lease (below $ 3k) and at least 2000 sqft. Use some of their merchandising technique, but don’t have 4 rows of one product. Find a way to neatly organize a variety of products using less space. Variety is key to sales, but you will find it difficult to sell the volume necessary to generate a profit. Finally, plan on working at the store all day by yourself. Labor and taxes are another costly expense that makes it difficult to pay the bills.
I certainly hope other people have a better experience. Hindsight being 20/​20, there were things that should have been red flags for me at the time. I was just so blindsided by the chance of growing a business and one day being my own boss. Unless you have the time and money to devote yourself completely, I don’t ever seeing this as being a profitable venture for you. If you do have the time and money, I’m still not sure you will see enough returns to make it worth it.
As a plus for DSS, I will say the turnkey store they offer does come as promised. But you do not get a POS system; you get a register where you touch a button for each item, as opposed to scanning. DSS also gets you in touch with vendors that do offer product with quality generally as good a Dollar Tree. Margins are sometime slim, and shipping can be crippling, so plan wisely.

I have been looking for a good business to invest in for over a year. After doing a lot of research and looking into multiple types of franchise business opportunities, I decided it would be best to open a dollar store. I spent a number of months looking at my options, and I have to say that after doing all my due diligence… Dollar Store Services is hands down the best place to go if you want to know the best way how to start a dollar store.