Shopping & Retail

10 surprising things you might not know about Dollar Tree

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If you’re into cheap everyday items, you probably love Dollar Tree! This discount chain, headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, has more than 15,200 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces.

There’s more to Dollar Tree than meets the eye!

Read on for some of the latest news about the beloved dollar store, plus some things you might not know about the place where everything is a buck!

Dollar Tree is getting ready to try different price points

This might come as a shocker, but according to a report in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Dollar Tree has decided to try additional price points like $1.50 or $2. The goal is to boost profitability after being pressured by some investors.

“Testing new initiatives is an essential component of the Company’s ability to evolve and provide the best customer experience, including multi-price point testing, which has been done on prior occasions,” the company said in a recent earnings release.

But don’t worry, it has no plans to abandon the $1 price point entirely.

“The Dollar Tree banner has one of the most unique, differentiated and defensible brand concepts in all of value retail,” the company notes. “The one-dollar fixed-price point has been a critical element of Dollar Tree’s success, generating deep customer loyalty and strong historical performance.”

Dollar Tree will close or rebrand some 600 Family Dollar locations

Dollar Tree is going through a lot of changes at the moment. The upheaval includes closing down hundreds of stores.

After buying Family Dollar four years ago, Dollar Tree says it will revamp the struggling banner by closing up to 390 Family Dollar stores this year. Additionally, the company expects some 200 other Family Dollars will be turned into Dollar Trees during 2019.

This $1 cleaner gets high marks from customers

LA’s Totally Awesome All Purpose Cleaner

‘LA’s Totally Awesome’ stands up to the toughest jobs for just a buck — and has legions of fans as our own Katy Wolk-Stanley found out when she put it to the test.

The concentrated cleaner/degreaser is formulated to work on a multitude of surfaces, from air conditioners to rust stains, chrome to driveways. In all, the bottle includes directions for 43 different types of surfaces.

Worried about toxic chemicals in cheap products like this one? Don’t be! LA’s Totally Awesome oxygen cleaner even received an ‘A’ from the Environmental Working Group. (Considered the standard for rating the toxicity of personal care products.)

The store sells $1 steaks from time to time

For those with an adventurous palette, Dollar Tree sometimes carries $1 ribeye steaks in stores that have a freezer section. The frozen, boneless beef steaks come pre-seasoned in a brine.

The steaks are from the brand Stampede, which is available in other major stores. The Dollar Tree steaks are just a smaller portion size.

Dollar Tree’s business delivery services are cheaper than the warehouse clubs

A lot of warehouse clubs have business delivery services that require you to pay a membership fee and maybe even have an order minimum. But that’s not the case with Dollar Tree Direct to Business.  Everything is $1 and you can get free shipping with in-store pickup to your local Dollar Tree.

Dollar Tree Direct to Business has a specific focus on the following industries:

  • Florists and gift shops
  • Restaurants, bars and hospitality
  • Wedding and event planners
  • Nursing homes, hospital and care facilities
  • Religious and nonprofit organizations
  • Cleaning and janitorial services

‘Bonus Buys’ offer maximum product size for your dollar

One of the gripes about dollar stores in general is that you get smaller product sizes than you normally would elsewhere. Clark has long fussed about how Barbasol shaving cream — a longtime dollar store crowd-pleaser — was once 14 ounces and then it became 11 ounces. Now it’s a six-ounce can at Dollar Tree.

But there’s a solution to that kind of problem. Check out the Bonus Buys section of Dollar Tree’s website. That’s where you can find staples like household goods, food and cosmetics with extra product thrown in for free…still at $1 a pop!

The ovulation predictor gets high marks!

Here’s an unlikely Dollar Store buy that has great reviews online!

The Assured Ovulation Predictor gets 4.6 stars and customers say it works just as well as the expensive brands.

“My doctor isn’t big on using ovulation predictors because it can become frustrating and overwhelming and expensive. However, he said if I’m going to use them buy cheap and dollar store is fine,” one woman raved. “Can’t beat the price! Follow directions and from my research using 2 per day can give better results. So $1 each is the way to go!”

Liquidation sales offer the chance for deeper discounts

Want even deeper savings? All the stuff Dollar Tree can’t sell in stores winds up online. Just check their closeouts and liquidations page.

You can buy in bulk online and get free shipping with in-store pickup

Maybe you’re planning a wedding this summer and you want 24 fluted glass ivy bowls for your floral arrangements, or perhaps you need 36 beautiful taper candles for the tables where your guests will sit. But you don’t want to pay an arm and a leg!

Good news: You can buy in bulk online and select the free ship-to-store option. When your order comes in, you simply go to the store and show your e-mail confirmation and ID  to a manager.

Of course, you can buy any product Dollar Tree sells online in bulk — not just wedding and bridal supplies!

Dollar Tree Canada is the place where ‘Everything’s $1.25’

Clark has long joked about wage inflation driving up the price of goods at the dollar stores. Because let’s face it: You don’t have a compelling brand if you have to become Two Dollar Tree!

Amazingly, Dollar Tree Canada does big business selling at a higher price point. While the stores in Canada are still called Dollar Tree, everything they sell is…wait for it…$1.25! ‘Everything’s $1.25’ is their trademarked phrase.

More dollar store stories on Clark.com

 

This post was last modified on October 9, 2019 11:05 am

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