Dollar Tree is trying to address its Family issues. Yesterday it announced it would close as many as 390 of its Family Dollar stores, convert another 200 to Dollar Tree formats and then open 200 additional stores with a new Family Dollar format.
If you have enough trouble keeping track of your own dollars, don’t feel bad about trying to keep up with all of these dollar store developments. What you need to know is that Dollar Tree bought Family about three years ago after a bidding war with arch-rival Dollar General. Family and General are similar formats in that they sell merchandise for more than a dollar while Tree won’t go over a buck.
This entire segment got a big jolt of business during the Great Recession and Tree and General have managed to hold on to most of that. Family, not so much, for a variety of reasons including lack of investment in physical locations, bad real estate and merchandising fatigue.
Tree is being pressured by investors to do something about its Family problem, either selling it off or otherwise revamping it. This is its first major attempt to address the situation.
We’ll see if it works. While dollar stores collectively continue to expand at insane rates — more than 1,000 stores a year on top of the 30,000 that already exist – and they continue to put local mom and pop retailers out of business, they themselves are being targeted by the big drug chains as well as Aldi. It’s a very competitive space.
One thing is clear: Americans are operating in an economic climate where more than ever the dollar format is appealing….if not necessary to their economic wellbeing.
Here’s my take on the situation from Forbes.com: https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshoulberg/2019/03/08/dollar-tree-trying-to-deal-with-its-family-problems/#99a00c132cf8
WarrensReport 
The real problem behind Family Dollar is the management of the company which trickles down to the store level. I know from where I talk because I am in Family Dollar stores every week and I see what going on and it’s not good. For instance one store I use to frequent regularly had 7 managers in a year. Here’s what happens a manager of a Family Dollar store that is not new usually has to clean up after the last manager. Why does he have to clean up after the old manager because the old manager was feed up with hours being cut and not enough people to stock the shelves no less wait on customers. I have seen perfectly good manager burn out in less that 4 months trying to clean up a wreck of a store. I can show you a store right now that is behind 6 distribution center loads and all they do is keep sending more merchandise. So, what happens the 6 loads that haven’t been put away just stay in the backroom and never get put out on the shelves. And who get blamed the Manager of course heaven forbid the District Manager call and say no more loads for this store until they get caught up. Or provide a team to help clean up the mess left by the previous managers. What are they rewarded with fewer hours. How do they make it up? Work the lost hours themselves or just give up like the last manager. I know managers because their hours have been cut are in the store by themselves from opening until about noon. Yet they are expected to wait on customer, cashier, stock shelves and watch out for theft. Gee now that doesn’t sound too hard does it? From what I have seen so far from Dollar Tree it’s more of the same shitty management and careless attitude about employees.
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