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Change is coming to your local Dollar Tree store, literally and figuratively. The days of “Everything’s $1.00” are soon to be over, as the discount retailer has announced it will increase prices from $1 to $1.25 on the majority of its products by the first quarter of 2022.
For 35 years, the Chesapeake, Virginia-based company has been one of America’s best-known dollar stores. Originally called “Only $1.00,” the store chain changed its name to Dollar Tree in 1993 with plans to change its prices at a later date.
That time has finally come. The company is raising prices in the hopes of offsetting soaring freight costs and other challenges brought on by the pandemic. However, in a quarterly earnings statement, the retailer reported that the change would be permanent, and that its decision was “not a reaction to short-term or transitory market conditions.”
The statement added that the increased price point will “enhance the Company’s ability to materially expand its offerings, introduce new products and sizes, and provide families with more of their daily essentials.”
Earlier this year, the company announced it would begin adding items costing $3-$5 at all its Combo and Dollar Tree Plus stores and testing other price points above $1 at select Dollar Tree locations. For now, though, the company is sticking with the new $1.25 pricing to keep things straightforward for customers.
“We experienced a strong finish to the quarter, as shoppers are increasingly focused on value in this inflationary environment,” president and CEO Michael Witynski said in the statement. “Our Dollar Tree pricing tests have demonstrated broad consumer acceptance of the new price point and excitement about the additional offerings and extreme value we will be able to provide. Accordingly, we have begun rolling out the $1.25 price point at all Dollar Tree stores nationwide.”
A spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the retailer has no plans to change its name.
Dollar Tree is the last of the dollar stores to increase its prices above the namesake price point.
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