Dollar Tree to sell some items for more than $1
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 3 years ago • 46 commentsBy: The Associated Press
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree embedded in its very name what it stands for: Behind these doors, everything can be had for just $1.
The mantra to which the Chesapeake, Virginia, company has held true for decades will now be only mostly true.
After expanding nationwide from only a handful of stores in Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, Dollar Tree is breaking the mold and will sell items in some locations that exceed the tantalizing $1 grab-n-go price.
The cost of clothes, cars, food and just about everything else has soared this year as the global economy emerges from a pandemic uppercut and Dollar Tree has not been untouched.
Last month the retail chain said that rising shipping costs would take a bite of $1.50 to $1.60 out of its per-share profits this year. That's a huge hit for any business, perhaps more so for one founded decades ago steadfastly calling itself "Only $1.00 Inc."
"For decades, our customers have enjoyed the 'thrill-of-the-hunt' for value at one dollar - and we remain committed to that core proposition - but many are telling us that they also want a broader product assortment when they come to shop," said CEO Michael Witynski in a prepared statement.
Raising some prices will certainly give the national chain some flexibility and likely more variety on its shelves. But a dollar this year will not buy you what it did in 2020.
Annual inflation in the U.S. reached 4.2 percent in July, the highest in three decades. And this week in an appearance before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that price increases have worsened amid snarled supply chains and rising labor costs.
That has hit businesses of every type, perhaps especially one that has held the line at $1 for decades.
Witynski said this week that Dollar Tree is a "test-and-learn" company, and they'll be watching how customers react.
The company had already begun testing higher prices at several hundred of its nearly 8,000 locations in a section of the store called "Dollar Tree Plus" with items that can go for as much as $5. Items that can go for $1.25 to $1.50 will soon be found in the mix at some locations amid the typical assortment of $1 products.
Analysts with J.P. Morgan noted past conversations with Dollar Tree executives who cited a significant sales boost at stores offering a Plus section and if no one else is cheering the shift to the top side of $1 at Dollar Tree, Wall Street is.
As Dollar Tree breaks the $1 barrier, Witynski said the company would remain true to its promise of value.
"We will continue to be fiercely protective of that promise, regardless of the price point, whether it is $1.00, $1.25, $1.50," Witynski said.
I guess these reporter have never shopped in a dollar store.
They've been selling stuff for over a dollar for a long time. At least the ones i've shopped in do.
Not the Dollar Tree, everything is a buck. The only time I ever saw anything there that wasn't a buck was a closeout at 2 for a buck.
you are correct
Dollar General and family Dollar definitely sell many items over a buck.
Thought Dollar Tree did as well but i guess i've never shopped in one of those
I knew they would have to do this eventually. Over the years I've seen regular items disappear off the shelves and assumed it was because the price point couldn't be met. Other items have shrunk, I used to buy 3 liter bottles of fake sprite now they're 2.75 liters. One of my favorite things is the Healthy Choice Chicken Rice Soup, a 15oz can for a buck. I usually buy 10 at a time and I'm always dreading the day they drop it because the equivalent costs at least 2.40 at any other store. Another thing I like is the reading glasses, at a buck a pop I don't have to look for my reading glasses I have a pair everywhere I might need them. I have a store two minutes up the road so if I don't have a snack that strikes my fancy I can just shoot up there and be back in 15 minutes, which leads me to my only complaint they close at 9pm.
I did the same. Last time I was in one I bought like four pairs of reading glasses to stash around the house. Keep a pair in the car too.
We have all those stores in town (somewhere). I frequent 99¢ Stores (love the honey peanut and (Peanut) energy blends). They even have good grade two-ply toilet paper. I do remember in 2018 I, too, starting griping about the increasing price-points and their rationale was the same: better quality and diversity. . . how can I argue against diversity?
Well, 2020 and Covid came and all is well that ends well. We have the odd store mixture of 99c products and 19.00 products in the store today. And we all get along with it.
Sometimes I wonder what line they were walking in the ad arena. . . because of the brand name (99¢ Stores).
Now I wonder if all these discount stores are related. . . . Watch this space.
After my own heart. I was getting the Campbell Chicken Noodle at great prices until I remembered the MSG and then switched to the Healthy Choice brand for whichever and its all good!
Note: Discount stores get products they can get order and products left on the truck(s) from the major stores who can not purchase or accept their entire shipment. If you ever see their loading bay when a haul come in you may see delivery trucks from Walgreens or other long-haulers back there. (-:
I go to Dollar Tree occasionally, and one of the attractions of it is that everything cost a dollar. You dont have to wonder if you accidentally picked up a package of ball point pens that costs three dollars or a tube of toothpaste that costs four. You just go in there and grab what you want . Unlike some dollar stores, Dollar Tree features many brand name products . You can buy a jar of Klaussen pickles lets say , for a dollar, which you could not do at any other grocery store. The thing is at Dollar Tree that jar of pickles will be scaled in size to that dollar price. Less pickles than the amount in the three dollar jar at Krogers. That is how Dollar Tree maintained the one dollar price.
On the other hand, a mix of other items in the 1-2 dollar range isnt the end of the world either. Shoppers will get used to it rather quickly.
I very rarely shop in any of these so-called dollar stores. Of all of them I like Dollar General the best. I bought a bunch of Slinkys for a dollar each
I have never been in a Dollar General but I have been in a Family Dollar , which struck me as a poor man's Walmart.
Years ago there used to be "five and dime" stores (Woolworth's) that served this function , where people could go buy cheap household items. It's not really a dollar store.
I used to love the local five and dime store
We had a Woolworths on Main Street right up till the early 80's with the lunch counter.
They had the best grilled cheese sammiches! The last time I ate at a Woolworth's lunch counter was in Fairbanks, Alaska.
I've never been to a Woolworth's, but we used to have a G. C. Murphy's that was about the same - household stuff, and some of them had a lunch counter.
I grew up going to a Woolworth's store in the center of town and we had Kent's Dollar Store too. Funny, you don't think about store and their types growing up - you just go there. And yes, I was barely too young to have gone into the stores and observed that Blacks were not allow to eat at the lunch counters. I was able to by the time I was allowed to go downtown by myself.
Yes! I remember that. I used to love seeing guinea pigs on the wheel or doing 'stuff,' and the sound of their little feet on woodscraping as flooring (or something like it). . .aquarium fish too as a child. .Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. . . . Memories, Barbra Streisand
Memories
Way We Were, The
Mem'ries,
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? could we?
Mem'ries, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...
The way we were...
Funny, you mention Walmart, because last year I was in one specific store locale that had a similar pet 'encounter' and it was a throw-back moment for me. (Smile.) You can hear the bird sounds across the 'store.'
Gurl TG, you have got to get in those stores (if you have got the good ones that is) and get you some of those savings. Good quality toilet paper $1.99! My, my, my. I'll take some. (And, I don't play around with my 'ply.')
I use vegetable soap products for dry skin and they stock it all the times. 99 cents! I find holiday and birthday cards. 8 oz can liners (can't find at regular stores even.) And I just love it!
I get my oatmeal products there too. Batteries (all sizes). Bananas. Cabbages. Honey peanuts -nice portion bag - (don't bother my blood sugar levels for a fact!) Everything but the meats. I haven't gotten there with them yet. But I see they are working on improving and up-scaling their racks of the stuff.
If it ain't Ultra Soft Charmin...I don't buy it. Learned that lesson from all the colonoscopies I've had to undergo
I have done two colonoscopies too! (Eat more fiber!) I am a 3 ply kind of guy, yes, but now I can't find it. Maybe it failed at the retention threshold in my area! LOL! Lord knows I did my share to keep 3 ply on the order list. Alas! It did not make it.
Anyway, 'do you' you know what works for TG! More for me!! (Tee-hee!)
Now, I'm curious about anatomies. . . do women have to undergo more routine (5 year/10 year - interval) colonoscopies than men??!
No, the schedules for screening are the same.
Okay! Thanks for sharing! I really did not know!
I have a family history so I have to have one about every 3-5 years, and they found polyps a couple of times.
But it's the same for women and men
My sis is a PA sort of specializing in gastroenterology. She keeps the family up-to-date on all the tests we should be having. That one is a pleasure I have not yet had to experience. Three years...
I started getting them when I was 38...I am now 59 and due again in November. I'm expert at this shit
Thanks TG!
I had one in 2011 age 50 a few days short of 51 and they found three polyps one certain to have been cancer had it stayed. 2014 was better then 2019 two more undetermined ones. I go back in 2024.
Wishing you the best ever in 2024 with your colonoscopy. See? We don't always have to be cruel, dismissive, and usual to each other!! (Smile.)
When I was riding in the Mardi Gras parade I use to order from them online. Like a box of light up bouncy balls. The last thing I bought was a case of light up wands that I tossed around to the kids at a night parade.
I hate Biden for this. As a low income person on medical disability the Dollar Store and 99CentStore have become fixtures in my life. Walmart used to be but now it’s only for fancier things those don’t carry and luxury items. Inflation is a tax for me.
LOL. You always have an angle for why supportin' a predator for president is 'adorable.' Yes, Artful Liar Donald Trump preys on other humans; get in his way and he will consume you too!
Oh and Dollar Tree is not a bad store! Turns out that one of my 'fav' stores for (really) small items is Dollar Tree. (I just paid attention to its name!) All this time I was looking at the sign on the building without actually reading it! It says, "Dollar Tree."
You can bet Artful Liar Donald is not surviving off Dollar Tree merchandise! Bet!
Oh wow. I guess it's prices are about to jump (a bit for various new items) just like the 99¢ stores. Well, diversity in stock is needed. Can't stay "cheap" for cheap-sake forever I guess.
The 99c store has items at 1.99 and 2.99 and these sharply undercut the prices for the same product elsewhere. The 99c store has a good selection of fresh fruit, potatoes, and vegetables, salads for .99 or 1.99 that makes going to a regular grocery store unneeded. Both stores have lots of great values in household cleaning stuff, personal hygiene, and so much more. I’m lucky in that I have a dollar store, 99c store, Ross, and Big Lots all close together the latter three in the same shopping center. I once spent $62 at 99c store for groceries and household items of a variety of types that would have cost me $100 at Walmart or Food Max or WinCo.
I guess it still bothers you that so many people in America of my economic means and demographic so strongly support President Trump and will do it again. We fly in the face of the ridiculous narrative that his policies were for the sole benefit of the ultra rich
What are you whining about ?
Then it's not really a 99cents store, is it? This is not the first time there has ever been inflation in the American economy. We will get past it.
If you go to Dollar Tree and you buy 20 items for 20 dollars, with a price hike to 1.25 you will only be able to buy 16 items for your 20 dollars. Find four out of the 20 items that you dont really need.
It would be a million times better if this country could create affordable rental housing for people than worry about inflation at dollar stores. .
Why not have fiscal policies that root out inflation instead of expecting fixed income people to sacrifice items on our budget? The 99c store didn’t raise prices. They brought in more variety of items to discount and get more items on a budget.
As for housing, I’m not a renter. My mortgage is for 1/2 the cost to rent my home according to Zillow.
I shan't tell you right now what I think of you supporting Artful Liar Donald. Just know this he craves your donations!
The 99¢ in my area has for several years now experienced increases in products varying from 1.99, 2.99, 4.99, 5.99 (masks - 50 count), and 19.00 for massagers, bed sheets, plus. Eggs 18 count 1.99 (a bargain!)
Though it is a 'problem' that they have not rebranded themselves. . . unlike Jefferson I won't make a "federal case" against diversification. The stores are trying to survive in a market where mediocrity can set in. Moreover, obliquely, they may be attempting to 'adjust' clientele that frequently walks through their doors "up" somewhat.
I get all of that. And by the way, I love the 19.00 massager! Is just as effective as the 100.00 Sharper Image massager I returned to Walmart after 99¢ put it on the shelf!
CNN is talkiing about now. There are freight problems, lack of employees/problems, port "congestion," supply-chain problems, plus with discount stores services. Thus, they have to go up! COVID outbreaks are a problem.
I have a post on that very issue on my seed today . It is a problem and vaccine mandates will only make it worse.
Then, you should tell your peers too much freedom can kill. Forego the bull patty and hurry and get vaccinated on their own accord! Before Dollar Tree products are beyond them forever! And as you can probably tell - I know this stuff!