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I shopped at Family Dollar and saw why the chain is struggling and shuttering stores


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Business Insider reporter Alex Bitter wears a dark blue polo shirt and sunglasses while standing outside a Family Dollar store in Maryland on a cloudy day. A black mini-van is visible to his left, as are thin grey bars in the window of the dollar store.

Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Business Insider visited a Family Dollar store in Mt. Rainer, Maryland. Alex Bitter/BI
  • About 1,000 Family Dollar stores will close in the coming years, parent company Dollar Tree said this month.
  • The chain has struggled over the last several years.
  • I went to a Family Dollar store and found lots of theft deterrents plus higher prices than nearby grocery stores. 

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Dollar stores have popped up almost everywhere in the US over the last decade or so. But Family Dollar is about to shrink.

The chain will close about 1,000 stores in the coming years, parent company Dollar Tree said last week. That's about 13% of all Family Dollar stores in the US.

Dollar Tree executives pointed to several reasons for closing the stores on last week's earnings call. Some are facing stiff competition from rivals. Some are coping with high rates of retail theft, even though Dollar Tree stores seem to have a better handle on the issue. And many are just less profitable for the company than Dollar Tree stores, the executives said.

It's been a rocky decade for Family Dollar. Rival Dollar Tree acquired the company in 2015, but it has struggled to run the retailer.

Family Dollar shoppers' budgets have also been hit hard by rising prices and cuts to food assistance benefits like SNAP. "Persistent inflation and reduced government benefits continue to pressure the lower income consumers that comprise a sizable portion of Family Dollar's customer base," Dollar Tree CEO Richard Dreiling said on the company's recent earnings call.

To find out what Family Dollar is like for shoppers, I headed to a store in Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC, a few days after Dollar Tree made the store closing announcement. A spokesperson for Dollar Tree and Family Dollar did not respond to a request for comment on my findings.

Here's what I found:

Do you work for Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, or Dollar General and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected]

I visited a Family Dollar store in Mt. Rainier, Maryland.

The red sign reading "Family Dollar" hangs above a dollar store in a strip mall in Maryland. Thin bars are visible on the windows, and a few black and grey cars sit parked in spaces in front of the store.

This Family Dollar is located near a high-traffic intersection. Alex Bitter/BI

Just a few minutes' drive from DC proper, this store is located in a strip mall between a check-cashing shop and a beauty supply store.

A sale sign in the front door got my hopes up for deals.

A flyer in the window of a Family Dollar store reads "End of Season Clearance, up to 60% off" and lists merchandise from NFL-themed gear to Hasbro games as on sale.

The sign promised discounts of up to 60% off. Alex Bitter/BI

Some dollar stores have had trouble selling all the inventory that their distribution centers send, especially seasonal items. I wondered if this store would be similarly overrun with stuff.

As I walked in, the cashier told me to put my bag behind the counter.

The reporter's light-blue reusable shopping bag sits on a cardboard box behind the register at a Family Dollar store in Maryland.

I had to leave my blue reusable shopping bag behind the register while I shopped. Alex Bitter/BI

She was nice about it, but it was a sign that management at this Family Dollar store was worried about patrons stealing. Theft is particularly bad at some Family Dollar stores, executives said on the latest Dollar Tree earnings call.

The bag policy was just the first sign that theft was a concern for this Family Dollar.

An aisle at a Family Dollar store is seen stocked with candy, instant noodles, and other shelf-stable foods as a customer in a white shirt walks toward the exit. Multiple security cameras, including one right above the aisle suspended from a pole, are visible.

There was tons of packaged, shelf-stable food at this Family Dollar. Alex Bitter/BI

As I headed toward the candy selection, I spied a security camera suspended on a pole above the aisle.

This camera also played a recorded message to remind customers of its existence.

A security camera sits suspended near the ceiling from a pole at a Family Dollar store.

There were several other cameras like this one mounted directly to the ceiling at this Family Dollar. Alex Bitter/BI

Periodically, I'd hear "Welcome to Family Dollar, thank you for shopping with us" play from a speaker on the camera.

Retailers of all kinds have talked about a rise in theft at their stores over the past few years.

Overall, the store was well-stocked compared to other dollar stores I've visited in the past.

Yellow bottles of Oxi Clean, Tide, All, and other laundry detergents sit on a shelf at a Family Dollar store.

Patrons could choose between several varieties of detergent. Alex Bitter/BI

One Dollar General store with a focus on fresh foods contained a lot of empty or near-empty shelves when I visited last year, for instance.

But not of Family Dollar's store-brand versions were a good deal. One example: Mac and cheese.

Blue boxes of Chestnut Hill Macaroni & Cheese Dinner sit next to Kraft Mac & Cheese on a shelf at Family Dollar.

Family Dollar's boxed macaroni and cheese is blue, just like Kraft's. Alex Bitter/BI

A box of mac from Chestnut Hill, another Family Dollar store brand, was 90 cents. That seemed like a good deal at first, given that the store was selling the name-brand Kraft version for $1.40 a box.

At a nearby grocery store, the equivalent Mac and cheese was much cheaper.

Boxes of Cheese Club macaroni and cheese sit on a shelf at an Aldi in Maryland. A price tag below says that each box is 57 cents.

Aldi's store-brand mac and cheese also imitates Kraft's packaging. Alex Bitter/BI

The store-brand mac and cheese was just 57 cents a box at an Aldi located just a 10-minute walk from the Family Dollar I visited.

It's a good example of how dollar stores are often more expensive than supermarkets.

A box of Reese's Peanut Butter ice cream bars sits in a freezer at a Family Dollar store. The price tag indicates that the box costs $6.

This Family Dollar had a selection of ice cream bars. Alex Bitter/BI

Walmart and Aldi had the lowest grocery prices, analysts at Bank of America found in a study of grocery options in the Dallas area last year. Ironically, Dollar General hiked prices the more than other retailers in the region in response to rising inflation, the study found.

Besides food, there was also a respectable selection of apparel.

A selection of sandals, clogs, and other footwear, much of it visually similar to shoes from the brand Crocs, hangs on a shelf at a Family Dollar store. Price tags hanging from each pair of shoes indicates a price of $5.

Croc-like shoes came in a range of colors at Family Dollar. Alex Bitter/BI

These shoes were just $5 a pair. Many of them resembled clogs from Crocs.

Most dollar stores I've been to didn't have as wide a selection of clothing as this Family Dollar did.

Shirts and other clothing on hangers is seen on a rack at a Family Dollar store. Sweaters not on hangers is seen strewn over the properly displayed clothing.

The shirts and other clothes at Family Dollar were a little disorganized. Alex Bitter/BI

Aside from fresh food, this Family Dollar store had the same range of items you'd expect at a big box store like Walmart — just with a much narrower selection to pick from.

I also found some strange items as I walked around the store.

A package of "pocket size" duct tape sits on a shelf next to automotive cleaning wipes at a Family Dollar store.

These pieces of duct tape were on a shelf next to the line for the registers. Alex Bitter/BI

I'm not sure who these pocket-sized strips of duct tape are meant to appeal to, but I passed on them.

I found some clutter in the aisles, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

A blue hand truck loaded with boxes and a pallet of cat food sits in an aisle stocked with h automative supplies at a Family Dollar store.

This Family Dollar store was more tidy than other dollar stores I've seen. Alex Bitter/BI

Other dollar stores that I've visited over the last year, particularly Dollar General stores, have been hard to walk around due to all the unpacked merchandise blocking the aisles. Some Dollar General stores have even had to shut down temporarily in order to clean up.

Cookies and mac and cheese in hand, I headed toward the checkout.

Several bottles of Mountain Dew Baja Blast sit on an endcap shelf in a Family Dollar store.

I was tempted by these bottles of Mountain Dew on my way to the checkout but ultimately passed on one. Alex Bitter/BI

There was just one person running the checkout lane that was open, but I didn't have to wait more than a few minutes to pay.

The cashier told me to use "exact change or pay by card" as she rang up my purchases.

A receipt from Family Dollar showing the purchase of one box of mac and cheese and one box of cookies as well as a cash payment of $3.25 sits on top of the purchases in a reusable shopping bag.

Paying with large-denomination bills would've been a problem at this Family Dollar. Alex Bitter/BI

As I pulled out a few dollar bills and dug around in my wallet for some quarters, she clarified that she could give me change for a small purchase. She said her concern was customers trying to break $100 and $50 notes and taking all of her smaller bills.

Then, I grabbed my bag from behind the register, stashed my purchases inside, and headed out of the store.

I'm probably not going back to a Family Dollar store anytime soon.

Business Insider reporter Alex Bitter stands on a sidewalk in Mt. Rainier, Maryland, outside a Family Dollar store he just visited.

I was happy to leave the Family Dollar store. Alex Bitter/BI

Overall, the Family Dollar store I visited was one of the better-stocked dollar stores I've been to lately.

But the fact that some grocery basics cost more than discount grocers means that I probably won't be shopping there again. The anti-theft measures also made it feel like I was a shoplifting suspect the second I walked in the front door.

I might feel differently if this store was the only option near me.

Dollar General store sign

Many dollar stores are located in small, rural communities. Gloria Dawson

The Family Dollar I visited was in a suburban area with several other retailers nearby, from an Aldi to a Latin American grocery store.

But Family Dollar and other dollar stores often end up being the only shopping option for some communities, especially small, rural ones. That's led some of those towns and municipalities to push back on dollar store openings.

If other Family Dollar stores are like this, it's not hard to see why the chain is shuttering some locations.

A red-and-orange Family Dollar sign and logo, featuring the outline of three people, sits above the entrance to a Family Dollar store in Maryland. Under a red awning are the sliding doors leading to the store, a freezer with bags of ice, and some black shopping carts.

This Family Dollar store, also located in Maryland, was organized and clean. Alex Bitter/Insider

Not all Family Dollar stores are like this. One I visited last year was the cleanest, most welcoming dollar store I've ever seen.

But some stores — and elements of the brand's strategy, such as pricing — might need to be revisited.

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