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A woman walks by a Family Dollar store on December 11, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. As the income gap between rich and poor continues to grow, dollar and 99 cent stores have become increasingly popular in both urban and rural America. Dollar General, one of several discount retail chains, has become one of the fastest growing retailers in the U.S. According to the Institute for Local Self Reliance, there are now over 30,000 dollar stores in the U.S., up from around 18,000 a decade ago. Dollar General and Dollar Tree alone are expected to have 50k stores in the next few years.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Dollar Tree reported its fourth-quarter results this morning. Sales were up slightly, better than analysts expected. But the big news was that the company plans to close almost four hundred of its Family Dollar stores. Dollar Tree bought Family Dollar four years ago, and the chain has struggled to adapt.
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