Discount retailer Dollar Tree will close about 1,000 stores under the Family Dollar and Dollar Tree brands over the next several years.
Six hundred Family Dollar stores will be closed in the first half of 2024, with 370 locations closing over the next few years as store leases expire, CNN reported.
In addition to the Family Dollar closings, the retailer’s parent company will close 30 Dollar Tree locations as their leases expire.
According to MarketWatch, Dollar Tree did not meet predictions for the fourth quarter. Fox Business reported that the company had a net loss of $1.71 billion in the final quarter.
[ Family Dollar fined $41.675M by DOJ over rodent-infested warehouse ]
Dollar Tree bought Family Dollar for $8.5 billion in 2015 to compete against Dollar General and Walmart. But in November, there were already signs that Family Dollar could be in trouble, with Reuters reporting that Dollar Tree was reviewing the Family Dollar brand and considering possibly closing underperforming stores.
Family Dollar was founded by North Carolina philanthropist Leon Levine in 1959.
He opened the first Family Dollar Store along Central Avenue in Charlotte with a $6,000 investment.
Levine said he got the idea while visiting a chain of stores in Tennessee that sold items for under $1. He decided his store would sell everything, from cleaning supplies to clothing, for under $2.
That first Central Avenue store still stands today.