FAMILY Dollar has imminent closures for two locations in one city.
Shoppers fear they won’t have affordable discount stores for a long time.
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The retailer placed closing banners outside Buffalo, New York, locations earlier this week, according to the NBC affiliate WGRZ.
Many low-income residents in the area told the news outlet they rely on Family Dollar for affordable essentials after going to Aldi or Tops to buy food and drinks.
“Where are we going shopping now?” a local asked.
“We are running out of options,” commented another.
Read more about the Family Dollar
Without the prevalence of dollar stores in the community, some residents say they will have to look for deals at corner stores to get needed merchandise.
While it may not seem like a big deal to make the switch, corner stores have been accused of price gouging in the Buffalo area, according to WGRZ.
Additionally, many nearby shoppers can only walk to buy groceries and would have to travel greater distances to have more options.
Apparently with few options left, Mitch Nowakowski, city council member for the Fillmore District – the area where the two closed Family Dollar stores are located – is taking action.
Nowakowski said the closures were “very concerning to me and my constituents,” in a Facebook post Wednesday.
He promised to contact Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, to work on maintaining the two cut sites in the area.
“Today I am contacting Dollar Tree to secure the future of these two stores,” the councilman wrote.
“I am passionate about preventing these properties from becoming vacant and blighted and continuing to preserve access to affordable essentials. [in] the neighborhoods.”
Nowakowski told WGRZ he has not yet heard back from Dollar Tree about a possible path forward to save the stores.
MASS OUTPUT
It seems unlikely that the retailer will reconsider, given Dollar Tree’s announcement earlier this year confirming that more than 1,000 Family Dollar closures were in the works.
Around 600 stores will close by the end of 2024.
Another 370 are expected to cease operations in the coming years when their leases expire.
Dollar Tree will also close 30 of its locations.
Mass shutdowns result from financial hardship.
Stores selling at least $1,000 will close, says CEO
Dollar Tree, the parent company of Family Dollar, revealed that it would close about 1,000 stores over the next few years.
The company announced in March that it would close stores after the value of the discount retailer it acquired nearly a decade ago plummeted.
Dollar Tree plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year.
This will be followed by the closure of 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores in the coming years.
The discount store chain also indicated that sales are being affected by the cost of living crisis and inflation.
But USA today added that Dollar Tree was also hit by reduced government benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
This has left families struggling to balance their finances, with up to $250 less per month.
Executives attributed the problems to rising costs from inflation, causing Family Dollar and Dollar Tree customers to go elsewhere for deals and sales, according to CBS News.
Still, Dollar Tree President and CEO Rick Dreiling said the company is “taking decisive action to improve profitability and unlock value at Family Dollar.”
For more related content, check out The US Sun’s coverage of Dollar Tree customers calling for a change in the store’s name after price hikes.
The US Sun also has the story about the “everything must go” sales going on at Family Dollar right now.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
