In this May 26, 2016, file photo, a shopper searches her purse outside a Dollar Tree store in Encinitas, Calif.missed market expectations for holiday-quarter sales and profit on Wednesday and laid out plans to shutter 970 of its Family Dollar stores, as the retailer looks to revamp the struggling business.
Dollar stores have struggled following a shift in consumer spending to lower-margin essentials from higher-margin discretionary goods. They also face stiff competition from rivals such as Walmart and Chinese e-commerce platform Temu. In November, Dollar Tree had said it would be reviewing its Family Dollar business, including potentially shutting down underperforming stores, to return to growth.The company, which operates around 16,774 stores, said it would close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of fiscal-year 2024 and 370 more over a period of a few years, along with 30 Dollar Tree outlets, as their lease terms expire.