More and more people are shopping at the Dollar Tree.
“There are a lot of things here that you can’t imagine you find here and there’s always a surprise, you can find a lot of things,” said 51-year old Ibis Hernandez.
For the first quarter of this year, Dollar Tree had net sales of $5 billion, up from a year ago. Store traffic rose 0.7% and shoppers spent 1.3% more per total purchase. In March, they announced they would be selling their Family Dollar chain and opening hundreds of Dollar Tree stores, anticipating net sales in 2025 to be as high as $19 billion.
So who’s shopping at their stores? And what are they buying? NBC Miami visited a Dollar Tree in Palmetto Bay, Florida, to find out.
“I usually buy some chips, some candy, because they have great prices and water is really good here. It’s really cheap here,” said 20-year old Carolina Diaz.
Her favorite thing? Prime hydration water.
“They usually sell it for $5, and here they sell it for a $1.25.”
Another item in her cart is a bag of Late July Chips. The bag of chips at the Dollar Tree is $1.25, but at a Publix a few blocks down the street, that same item is $5.79.
And price, for many, is why people come to this dollar store. One of those people is Lisa, who shares: “There’s certain things I like to get here, like snacks, they are much cheaper here than they are at the grocery store.”
Lisa had in her hand a bag of Snyder’s Buttersnaps, which is $1.25 at the Dollar Tree. At Publix, it costs $4.79.
But experts at NBC say there are reasons why costs might be cheaper. One is that the amount you are getting may be less, there is less variety in food options at dollar stores, and items may be close to their expiration dates.
And it’s also important to note that not everything in the dollar store is a dollar. Most things are $1.25, $3 or more, and the company says it may continue to increase prices on some items due to rising costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But there are items that are typically a safe bet in terms of cost: canned goods, rice and pasta.
Some shoppers say the thrill of where a dollar can take you is what it’s all about.
“I think it’s part of the fun of it, it’s a fun thing to come in here and be like ‘what do they have here today?'” said Lisa, noting that brand name products like Synder’s pretzels is something “some people can’t afford, so they come here.”
