Currency

Amid mass layoffs across the US, Dollar Tree announces nearly 1,000 Family Dollar store closures

Discount retail giant Dollar Tree announced Wednesday that it will shutter nearly 970 of its Family Dollar stores across the United States and Canada, as well as 30 Dollar Tree locations, leaving thousands out of work, following what the company calls “years of mismanagement” and “declining profitability” of its stores. 

A Family Dollar store in Ridgeland, Mississippi [AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis]

Many of the stores to be closed are located in rural areas and impoverished towns and cities. The Family Dollar chain has 8,000 stores in the US and Canada and is owned by Dollar Tree, one of the largest discount chains of its kind. In many areas of the country, a Family Dollar store represents the only option for groceries and other goods, with larger supermarkets several hours’ driving away.

Announcing the closures in a press release, Dollar Tree stated, “As a result of this review, we plan on closing approximately 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of fiscal 2024. Additionally, approximately 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores will close over the next several years at the end of each store’s current lease term.”

Family Dollar has lost ground to rival retailer Dollar General, whose prices are 10 to 15 percent lower. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many youth and workers that form the majority of Family Dollar’s shoppers have been impacted by record-high inflation, which has seen prices for housing, food, gasoline, and other living costs skyrocket, resulting in a decline in spending. 

Higher prices, taken together with jobs paying lower wages that have not kept pace with inflation, have left many youth and workers struggling to survive, leaving many to choose between forgoing payment of one necessary bill to pay another. Workers’ livelihoods have been further stressed by the Federal Reserve’s high interest rate policy which is aimed at fueling job cuts and suppressing wage growth.

Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar in 2015, in what then CEO Bob Sasser called a “transformational opportunity,” referring to the potential profits to be amassed by investors.


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