The City of Chicago has passed an ordinance restricting the location of new Dollar Stores within one mile of an existing unit. Issues raised by proponents of the ordinance included defective maintenance, poor security and price gouging.

The ordinance would be more acceptable in a free-market economy if it were not for the fact that the City has entered into competition with grocery stores establishing retail outlets in so-called food deserts.  Although Dollar stores have introduced fresh produce and widened their offering of foods, inner-city and predominantly minority communities have limited access to conventional supermarkets.  Chains including Aldi, Target and Walmart have attempted to operate stores in some Chicago communities, but these have been unprofitable due to theft and security issues.