But not anymore. Everything is $1.05 because of a 5-cent fuel surcharge applied to all items on the store's shelves.

Owner Jason Weaver is the first one to admit he has made a decidedly risky move for a dollar-store operator, let alone any retailer.

Shipping-related companies and enterprises that rely heavily on gasoline started levying such surcharges on their wholesale customers some time ago. But companies that sell goods or services directly to consumers - two exceptions being airlines and moving companies - have been reluctant to directly call attention to the unpopular fees, choosing instead to quietly raise prices.

But when you operate a dollar store, you have no such luxury. Weaver said his shipping costs skyrocketed over the past year, yet his business model - and business name - are based on selling items for no more than $1. So he instituted the 5-cent-per-item fee.

"It was either this," he says. "Or go out of business."

David Creer, executive director of the Utah Trucking Association, which represents more than 400 trucking companies in the state, said many consumers don't realize how much retailers or a variety of other enterprises must pay in shipping costs - and how much those costs have increased over the past year.

Depending on how retailers get their products delivered to them - via aircraft, trucks or rail, or a mix of each method - many businesses have seen their shipping costs increase by 20 percent to 50 percent.

Weaver's decision is providing some consumers with insight into the troubling effects of inflation and how it can affect everyone.

Inflation, driven in large part by rising fuel costs, is enough of a concern that the Federal Reserve has continued to increase interest rates repeatedly over the past year to keep it under control.

The Fed probably will raise rates again at least twice more this year to minimize the chances that the ripple effect of higher gasoline prices could hurt the economy as a whole, said Salt Lake City economist Jeff Thredgold, a consultant to Zions Bank.

Thredgold said many companies have delayed or put off price increases to avoid losing sales in a highly competitive economy. But there are those - especially small companies such as Weaver's dollar-store business - that operate on too small of margins to avoid passing on the added costs.

Operating margins at many big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target - as well as many dollar stores - range from 5 percent to 8 percent. But many smaller retailers often get by on smaller margins.

Thredgold said most consumers probably will not be bothered by small surcharges. But significant surcharges? They would be a real turnoff, he said.

"If I walked into Nordstrom and a shirt was $50 and there was a $5 fuel surcharge I would say, 'This is ridiculous,' '' he said. "But a dollar store having to raise their prices by 5 cents - I don't find that a real negative."

They may not be widespread, but fuel surcharges have quietly been popping up in a number of areas by fuel-dependent companies that added fees are more palatable to consumers than simply raising prices across the board.

Some smaller cruise lines, for example, have added fuel surcharges of $3 to $5 a day, although the largest lines haven't yet followed suit. And several airlines have added fuel surcharges, although for the time being they are largely limited to overseas flights.

Delta, which operates its third-largest hub out of Salt Lake City, raised its fuel surcharge on most trans-Atlantic flights in April by $10. Earlier this month, it increased the surcharge by another $10. Delta's fuel surcharge is now $65 each way.

Moving companies such as United Van Lines and Mayflower have added a 10 percent surcharge. It applies only on moves from one state to another and only to the transportation charges associated with the move, not charges for things such as packing or the cost of moving boxes, said David Sparkman, spokesman for the American Moving and Storage Association. The surcharge is updated monthly as fuel prices fluctuate.

At Everything a Dollar, some customers on a recent weekday were nonplussed by the 5-cent surcharge, while others were not bothered. They said they understand because they, too, are paying more in gasoline to fill their vehicles.

"It doesn't bother me because everything is still so cheap," said Janie Carff of Syracuse.

But several customers said they would be troubled by additional increases.

Devoted dollar shopper Carol Brown of South Jordan said she won't set foot in Everything a Dollar because of the surcharge.

"To me, it's an issue of integrity," she said. "I would not go to a business that says they are a dollar store and then charges more than a dollar."

There is no shortage of dollar stores, such as the Dollar Tree chain, that pledge to keep prices at $1 indefinitely and plan to cope with inflation by changing their product mix (translation: By substituting cheaper merchandise or packages with fewer items in them).

Weaver said he doesn't want to change his product mix or put cheaper items in his stores. He said he has thought about changing his store's format to that of Family Dollar, which sells items priced in multiples of $1 - $2, $3, $4 and so on.

He also has thought about changing the name of his store from Everything a Dollar.

Ultimately, he is pondering the future of the dollar-store industry and his company's future as a number of small competing dollar shops go out of business or are being acquired by national chains.

Brent Bishop, who three years ago sold his privately held dollar-store chain Greenbacks Inc. to Dollar Tree Stores Inc. for approximately $100 million in cash, believes inflation, over the long term, will be a real problem for stores that try to sell items for $1 or less.

"Most at some point are going to have to adjust their prices upward," he said, noting that the smallest dollar stores will be forced to do so first, with the largest operators who enjoy the greatest efficiencies and volume purchasing power doing so last.

Weaver, who got into the dollar-store business a few years ago, said he would never have imagined the day he opened his doors that he would have to raise prices beyond $1 so soon.

"Adding the surcharge is something I had to do," he said. "All I can do now is hope that customers understand."

lesley@sltrib.com