Can dollar stores survive an economic recovery?

Msnbc.com recently reported that Wall Street analysts are predicting a decline in business for dollar stores as the economy improves. Why? People forced by the bad economy to check out dollar stores such as Dollar Tree and Family Dollar to make ends meet in lean times will revert to shopping at higher end stores as their financial outlook improves.

As the article notes, people who had never set foot in a dollar store before the recession were delighted with what they could buy for a buck. Even so, three years later, many remain leery of some food and medicinal items, among other things.

Dollar stores have long struggled with the perception that their goods are of lower quality and less trustworthy than products in other stores. Still, shopping at dollar stores has become more acceptable to the general public in the last few years and all of the major dollar stores have made a greater effort to concentrate on quality products and keeping the stores clean, which makes for a more enjoyable customer experience.