Dollar Tree takes Deals in new direction

The Deals stores Dollar Tree acquired nearly a decade ago never turned into a meaningful growth vehicle for the company and soon the banner will disappear.



Dollar Tree said of the 222 Deals stores it operates, 217 will be converted to Dollar Tree stores and five others will become Family Dollar stores. Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar earlier this year giving it a network of nearly 14,000 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada.



“Now that we have successfully completed our acquisition of more than 8,200 Family Dollar stores, we are confident that we can better serve our Deals customers and markets through one of our primary banners – Dollar Tree, which offers tremendous values for needs and wants at the single price-point of $1 or Family Dollar, your neighborhood discount variety store which provides name-brand and quality private-brand consumable products at everyday low prices,” Dollar Tree CEO Bob Sasser said in a statement.



Dollar Tree acquired 138 Deals store locations in March 2006. At the time, the deal appeared to offer Dollar Tree a new growth vehicle and a means to diversify from its single price point formula. However, the concept never grew significantly and only grew to 222 units in nearly 10 years.



The Deals store conversions are expected to be completed by the end of July 2016 and Dollar Tree is on track to convert more of its recently acquired Family Dollar stores. By the end of October, Dollar Tree said it will convert 150 Family Dollar location to Dollar Tree stores. The company said it has plans to convert more of the Dollar Tree stores in 2016 but did not offer a specific target.



“This initiative to re-brand our Deals stores enhances our ability to focus on our two primary banners, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, while improving efficiencies throughout our business,” Sasser said. “We are very pleased with our progress on the Family Dollar integration, as we continue to focus on growing our business while creating long-term shareholder value.”