Posted on 03/06/2019 4:30:52 PM PST by buckalfa
Dollar Tree announced early Wednesday morning during its fourth-quarter earnings results that it will be closing as many as 390 of its Family Dollar stores in 2019 and remodeling 200 locations to become Dollar Tree stores. This follows on from 85 store closings at the chain during the fourth quarter of 2018. It has been three years since Dollar Tree bought Family Dollar, and analysts say that so far, it's been a disappointing run. The discount chain, which has more than 8,000 stores in the United States, has pulled down its parent company's earnings over the past few years. In its most recent results, same-store sales at Dollar Tree only were up 3.2%. Family Dollar saw a more modest increase of 1.4%. Family Dollar "remains the weaker part of the business," Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail, said in a note to clients in November. He continued: "From our data, a high proportion of Family Dollar's shopper base goes there out of necessity rather than because they particularly want to. There is nothing wrong with this position, but it does mean that as financial conditions improve, or people feel they can afford something better, they are more likely to migrate away." Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar in 2015, after undergoing a bidding war with Dollar General, its main US rival. Dollar Tree and Dollar General are almost neck-and-neck in terms of store count and annual sales.
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Market oversaturation. There is a Dollar Tree, a Dollar General, and a Family within two miles of each other where I live....and a 99 Cents Only store.
My Dollar Trees are great stores for inexpensive household items from Batteries to Cleaners, trading cards to candy bars, and Halloween decorations.
Family Dollar was a cheap imitation and there was no reason for it.
They seem to have over-saturated...some areas have the various “Dollar” stores withing a mile of each other in all directions.
I agree. I got these great rock glasses at Dollar Tree. They are as nice as anything at Williams Sonoma.
I buy glasses and bowls at the dollar stores for glassware and mixing bowls they can’t be beat ANYWHERE!!!!!
Our 99 cent store is better than the dollar stores in the area there are 5 of them in a very small area!!!
Maybe. Where I live now, all these stores are in the ‘hood, so I can no longer use them. (I don’t see any Dollar Trees around, only Family Dollar.) When I had a home in NJ, I always used Dollar Tree for trinkets and party items or cheap dishes for a party. They were in middle-class neighborhoods with middle-class cheapskate customers, like me.
Wonder him much some states raising their minimum wage had to do with this....
As for the money savings... I hit the Dollar Tree occasionally. Some people are there because that's what they can afford, I just do it because I like some of the products, and mostly because I'm cheap. They have good disposable supplies (like for parties) and cleaning products. I see no point to paying $4/bottle for floor cleaner at the grocery store, when the Dollar Tree sells exactly the same thing, same size, same package, for a buck.
My grandmother - long passed - used to like the smaller portions. 10 garbage bags would last her for a long time. She also said that there were more "Made in America" products there - I think that's less the case, of late, but some of what I buy still has "made in the USA" on the label.
I love Dollar Tree, though the one closest to me is not well-managed.
In the small town where I live, we have a small grocery store (high prices but I try to shop there occasionally just to help keep them open), a small local drugstore (way too high priced), a convenience store/gas station (I’ll get gas there from time to time but never go inside as you come out smelling like a fried burrito) and a Family Dollar.
I go to Family Dollar on a pretty regular basis, mostly to do my part in keeping them open.
I have to drive 15 miles to get to Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree, or a Dollar General. The Dollar General which is most convenient is in poor repair, dirty, and extremely cluttered.
I like the dollar stores, myself. I loved the Dime Store (I don’t know what it’s actual name was) when I was a child and that seems to have carried over.
Yep. The other convenience store chains charge too much. In a rush - with no time to do major shopping - most people grab things at a Dollar Tree.
I try to keep my neighborhood Winn-Dixie in business. People complain about it for some reason but I quite like it. To me, it is a convenience store. I use Publix for my major shopping.
As a kid, I loved the 5&10 or the Kress stores. Perhaps that’s why I like the dollar stores as well as Big Lots.
Seriously. Nearly all of the Family Dollar stores I know of are in really ghetto locations.
Besides these stores are packed with Somalis and other refugees
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Not where I live. Depends on the location. I have two Dollar Tree stores within eight miles of my farm and I’m in one the other several times a week. I find it difficult to walk through either one of then without buying something.
The 40-count is $7.99.
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I pick up a 60-count bag of 33-gal trash bags for $4.99 whenever I cruise through a Roses department store. Probably have 30 or more packages around here right now. The dollar stores cater especially to people who live in rural areas, to farmers and small town residents who are living on modest incomes. They are very much appreciated by such folks.
They were in middle-class neighborhoods with middle-class cheapskate customers, like me.
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I once introduced a close friend to the local dollar store and he became a regular customer. One day he said to me: You know, when I first went into those stores with you the other customers all looked to me like homeless street people with no teeth. Now when I go to them, I see people pulling up to shop in those stores in Cadillacs and Lincolns!
I have never been on a Roses but have bought cheap bags that rip and tear.
The one near my office always has the appearance of being looted. Stuff on the floor, empty boxes everywhere, half empty shelves and one personworking the register and many people on line..
I have never been on a Roses but have bought cheap bags that rip and tear.
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Yeah, the cheapies will rip and tear on occasion, but when that happens I just drop the damaged one in another bag.
Yeah, often the same item is a dollar at dollar tree and three dollars at walmart. I avoid the obvious smaller packaging scams. We go there on the way to the beach and everybody picks one treat. Works great.
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