Until 2015, Family Dollar was the second-largest chain of stores of its type. With 8,000 locations across the Lower 48, it’s hard to RV anywhere without running into one of them. But Family Dollar’s parent company, Dollar Tree, says almost 1,000 of the merchandise-crowded stores will close in the next three years. Your Family Dollar shrinks!
600 to shutter by July
The door-slamming at Family Dollar will happen quickly at the start. Expect 600 stores to be shuttered by this July. Additionally, 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Trees will shrivel up over the next few years. It’s been a story in the making, ever since Dollar Tree bought up Family Dollar in 2015.
The acquisition came after a bidding war between Dollar Tree and “the tribe across the river,” Dollar Tree’s competitor, Dollar General. In a story carried by theguardian.com, the demise of Family Dollar has been a slow decay for Dollar Tree. Here’s how the rot set in, according to The Guardian.
“This dramatic cull is the coup de grace in the rather botched acquisition of the Family Dollar chain, which has caused Dollar Tree nothing but hassle since it was completed back in 2015,” wrote Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. “Basically, almost 10 years on, Dollar Tree is still sifting through the mess it inherited and has not been able to completely turn around,” Saunders said.
What about Quartzsite’s Family Dollar?
Many RVtravel.com readers are familiar with Family Dollar, especially those who snowbird their way to Quartzsite, Arizona. Family Dollar and competitor Dollar General occupy the same street—“The B-10”—only on opposite ends of town.
What will happen to Quartzsite’s Family Dollar? Will the Family Dollar shrink? We reached out to Dollar Tree management to ask. They sent us back a press release, telling us what we already knew. The only other comment made by Kate Kirkpatrick, the vice president of company communications, was, “This is the extent of what I have to share.”
Whether the Family feud with the General down the street will continue after a thousand fall remains to be seen.
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Dollar tree is a waste of time and money, would rather do family dollar or walmart anytime.
Dollar Tree and Family Dollar are owned by the same entity. The Dollar Tree near us is far and above better than the local Family Dollar.
As far as Walmart, it is like Camping World. High prices, lower quality and absolutely no customer service people in the stores. They are now pushing Walmart +, shop online and pickup at the store. Don’t ask one of the people filling the online orders for help. They tell you they cannot help.
Sounds like a Camping World scheme. Buy up one of your contemporaries and then run them underground..eliminating further competition.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 Dollar General stores are far more numerous in our neck of the woods than Family Dollar. They also seem to universally, again, here in our neck of the woods, be better located as far as easy access. Thank you and safe travels! 🙂
Driving the Blue Highways of America, you will see many small towns with only a Dollar Tree, Dollar General and/or a Family Dollar as a general merchandise store.
Bring on Amazon!
Growing up in the 60’s & 70’s there were gas stations on every corner, time weeded the least lucrative ones out. Then drug stores started popping up on every corner and time has weeded the weak out. Then fast food has popped up everywhere and time has weeded them out. The same goes for the dollar stores, auto parts stores, etc., It’s evolution, only the strongest survive. Corporate stores know this and figure it into the cost of our goods.
Near our rural Texas domicile, there is a Family Dollar on the corner at the state highway. Recently a Dollar General Market was opened kitty-corner to the Family Dollar. The new Dollar General Market has fresh produce and meat section and larger selection of dairy and frozen food. The nearest place for produce and meat is a grocery store chain some 12 miles away. The DG Market is running Family Dollar out of business because the main reason that they carry fresh produce and meat for which our neighborhood enjoy the convenience of. I see a trend here for rural towns and DG Market business model.
Hopefully our local Family Dollar is safe. Always a pleasure to shop there with orderly, well stocked shelves, no clutter on the aisles, and immaculately clean. The manager and staff are lovely. Always a friendly greeting and always helpful. They are part of the fabric of the neighborhood
The Dollar General 2 blocks away I won’t set foot in. It’s unsettling in that it looks like a bomb went off in a warehouse.
It’s all about management and the people you hire. Train and treat your staff well, pay them fairly, and instill a sense of pride and ownership in the operation of your store, and the customers will come.
I’d be curious to know what the “mess” was. These dollar stores are a staple in many smaller towns like Quartzsite. I know many who are regular patrons.