Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Are Closing 1,000 Stores

There are going to be fewer places to get your dollar on in the U.S., as national retail chain Family Dollar has announced they will close approximately 1,000 stores over the next few years. That's huge for a company that was once growing.

CNN reports that Family Dollar's parent company, Dollar Tree, hopes the closures will improve the company's profitability. That said, this will give some Americans fewer places to shop, as Family Dollar stores are often in areas where there aren't many supermarkets, big box stores and general stores.

According to the report, around 600 Family Dollar stores will close in 2024 and an added 370 will close in the coming years. So far, the company hasn't provided a list of locations where the stores will close. After the news broke on Wednesday (March 13), shares of Dollar Tree fell more than 13% to their lowest level of 2024 in early trading.

According to CNN, a number of factors have caused Family Dollar stores to be less profitable, stating that, "years of mismanagement and poor conditions in stores have hurt Family Dollar's brand." They add that Family Dollar was recently fined more than $40 million for a rat infestation at a warehouse. that infestation actually resulted in hundreds of stores having to to temporarily close. They also add that "decades-high inflation has hit shoppers hard, and a general consumer pullback has impacted Family Dollar customers and the chain's profits, exacerbating its battle with discount competitors such as Dollar General, Walmart and others." Meanwhile, Family Dollar's rival, Dollar General, has been opening stores. They have been opening around 1,000 stores a year and, according to CNN, are the fastest-growing retailer in the United States. The company currently has around 18,000 stores. So, there's more competition in the dollar market, and that's contributing to the issues, too. Both companies are going up against each other for the same low-income shoppers.