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CLOSING UP
Shoppers have not taken the news of Family Dollar closures lightly
- Molly Bowcott, Freelance US News Reporter
FAMILY Dollar has announced the closure of yet another store and shoppers have just two weeks to make the most of its liquidation sales.
This location is just one of many Family Dollar stores to close nationwide.
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The latest location to shutter, which is now selling all its merchandise at a 30% discount, is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, SiouxFalls.Business reported.
And alcohol and tobacco can be purchased with a 20 percent discount a store employee said.
The South Minnesota Avenue shop will close its doors for the final time in just over two weeks, on September 14.
This Family Dollar store was in business for five years and the planned closure comes just weeks before the lease expires on September 30.
Read more on Family Dollar
"It will be a great space for a new tenant," said Gregg Brown, a real estate agent at NAI Sioux Falls.
This news comes after the retailer's parent company Dollar Tree announced in March that it would initiate mass store closures across the US in an attempt to improve its profitability.
The company closed around 600 Dollar Tree stores by early August this year.
An additional 370 Family Dollar stores and 30 Dollar Tree stores will close in the next few years.
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Other South Dakota stores to shut this year were located in Beresford, Spearfish, Reliance, and Lemmon.
While the South Minnesota Avenue store is shuttering, two other Family Dollar stores remain in the Sioux Falls area.
Dollar General shutting down 5 stores in the same ‘oversaturated’ city – but community mourns ‘needed’ location
The U.S. Sun has contacted the company for comment.
Shoppers expressed their frustration on social media over the wave of closures.
"Going to be hard when they shut that Family Dollar down," one wrote.
"Inside a closing Family Dollar and omg it's giving post apocalyptic," another customer said.
History of Family Dollar
Family Dollar has been under Dollar Tree’s ownership since 2015, reportedly acquired for $8.5 billion.
In response to significant losses, Dollar Tree has initiated price increases across its stores.
Currently, there are over 8,000 Family Dollar locations across the US, with main competitors including Dollar General and Walmart.
Founded in 1959 by 21-year-old entrepreneur Leon Levine, Family Dollar opened its first store in South Carolina.
"Where are we going to shop now?" a further shopper asked.
"Feel bad for honest folks who depend on these neighborhood stores," one user wrote on Facebook.
Dollar Tree purchased Familly Dollar for $8.5 billion in 2015 but less than 10 years later, the company has been forced to announce the closure of around 1,000 stores.
The mass closures were in response to the recent downturn in the economy and underperforming stores.
At least 1,000 dollar stores to close, CEO says
Dollar Tree, the parent company of Family Dollar, revealed it would close around 1,000 stores in the coming years.
The company announced in March that it will shutter the stores after the discount retailer it acquired nearly a decade ago plummeted in value.
Dollar Tree plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year.
This will be followed by the shuttering of 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores over the next several years.
The chain of discount variety stores has also indicated that sales are being affected by thecost-of-living crisisand inflation.
ButUSA Todayadded that Dollar Tree has also been rocked by reduced government benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
This has left families struggling to juggle finances, with as much as $250 less per month.
Rick Dreiling, the CEO of Dollar Tree, Inc., explained the need for these closures in a statement to Fox Business last year.
He said the company wanted to focus on "long-term growth."
The company is "making decisive action to improve profitability and unlock value at Family Dollar," Dreiling explained.
FINANCIAL STRUGGLES
Many businesses across the US have been forced to shutter this year as high inflation and rising costs have left some unable to cope.
And the closure of Family Dollar stores has created unexpected issues in some areas of the country.
In many rural areas, dollar stores have also had to act as grocery stores for residents.
When stores such as these close, people are left in food deserts - where access to affordable, fresh food is limited.
Opponents of Familly Dollar and Dollar Tree, however, have criticized the chain's affordability, the Food Institute reported.
Read More on The US Sun
Some argue that the low prices of these shops take business away from traditional grocery stores.
Opponents even say that in some cases, dollar stores create food deserts rather than alleviating their effects.
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