Dollar Tree, a Fortune 500 company, has recently announced that it will close 600 Family Dollar stores in 2024.
There are 16,774 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces that operate under the names Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada with 8,000 of these stores being Family Dollars.
MORE: Augusta University president prepares to cast off for retirement
In Richmond County, there are nine Dollar Trees and 18 Family Dollars. In Columbia County, there are four Dollar Trees and three Family Dollars.
Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar for $8.5 billion in 2015 in hopes of keeping up with competitors Dollar General and Walmart. However, they didn’t know how to manage the Family Dollar due to the differences in products offered, which leads to a difference in clientele.
While Dollar Tree serves middle-income shoppers with party supplies and other products of that nature, Family Dollar served lower-income shoppers who are looking to purchase food and household essentials.
After struggling through inflation and shoplifting, Family Dollar stores lose more profit than they gain. Adding to their struggle is the competition between multiple Family Dollar stores in communities. Since Family Dollar stores are built so close together, they compete, which causes more loss of profit.
Several of the stores in Richmond and Columbia counties are built close to other competing stores of the same brand. There is a Dollar Tree and three Family Dollars located on Peach Orchard Road. On Deans Bridge Road, there is a Dollar Tree and three Family Dollar stores, and there are three Dollar Tree stores on Washington Road. There is each a Dollar Tree and a Family Dollar store located on Gordon Highway, Laney Walker Blvd., Wrighstboro Road, and E. Robinson Ave.
These closures will impact small communities that rely on the Family Dollar stores as their grocery stores. The Family Dollar in Clearwater, South Carolina, 4403 Jefferson Davis Highway, will close this year. It is the first Dollar Tree brand store to be impacted in the CSRA. No stores in Richmond or Columbia counties have been impacted by this widespread closure.
In the next few years, an additional 370 Family Dollar stores and 30 Dollar Tree stores will close at the end of their leases. Recently, in Richmond and Columbia counties, a Dollar Tree store opened September 2023 on Windsor Spring Road.
It is unknown whether any other Dollar Tree brand stores will close before the end of the year in the CSRA. However, in the meantime, they are open and ready for business.
