Though it opened July 2 with little fanfare beyond a “Grand Opening” sign on the wall, Dollar Tree’s newest store on Brighton Avenue is already winning over neighborhood residents.
One elderly gentleman who said his name was “Ray, just Ray,” rode his bicycle there—again.
“I’ve been here every day since they opened,” he said, munching on some string cheese in the parking lot July 9. “It’s great. They’re close, and the prices are great.”
Store manager Adam Baldinger said the company doesn’t do elaborate grand openings, but the store did give away some movie- and picnic-themed gift bags to customers ahead of the holiday weekend.
“We’re still playing catch-up because the holiday delayed one of our delivery trucks,” he said. “But the people are coming. It’s been good.”
It’s been good enough that Baldinger had seven employees on the floor—checking out customers, stocking shelves and unloading a delivery truck—first thing on a Thursday morning. All are young African Americans from the neighborhood.
Assistant Manager Dominique Fancher said the response to the store’s opening has been exceptional.
“It’s booming,” she said. “We’ve had way more people than we expected.”
Dollar Tree is a real dollar store, in that nothing they carry sells for more than $1, and some things—name-brand candy bars—sell for $.79. The stores carry national and store brand grocery items, cosmetics, and health and beauty items.
The 1516 Brighton Rd. store, however, also has a built in frozen and refrigerated foods cooler, a feature offered in just 3/5 of its 5454 stores across the continental U.S. and Canada. Even with this, Baldinger said the store would not compete with the Family Dollar store just 200 yards away because they carry entirely different products at much different price points.
That’s good for both, because Dollar Tree announced July 6 that its $9.2 billion purchase of Family Dollar had been approved by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states attorneys general, including Kathleen Kane, who had objected to the merger creating a potential monopoly.
As part of the agreement, Dollar Tree will sell off 330 Family Dollar Stores to a competitor, 19 of which are located in Pennsylvania. Company spokesperson Shelly Davis would not comment on the Brighton Road Family Dollar other than to say the company plans to “ retain and grow both banners going forward.”
“We’re very excited about the new Dollar Tree opening and pleased to be serving the community,” she said.
Davis would not discuss “internals” but said at 8,500 square feet, the new store is average. “And while we don’t discuss individual stores, I can say one that size typically employees between 12 and 15 part-time and full time associates,” she said.
She also declined to discuss salary ranges for new employees, but said anyone interested can visit their career center at www.dollartreeinfo.com or visit the store.
Whether or not the acquisition will affect the Family Dollar, again, no one would comment. But from appearances, no one is very concerned—they are hiring, for full-time, part-time and managerial positions.
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