Attorney General Announces Settlement Allowing Dollar Tree to Acquire Family Dollar

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced today the merger of two large national chains of deep discount stores, Dollar Tree, headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia and Family Dollar, headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina. As part of the agreement, Dollar Tree will be required to divest hundreds of Family Dollar stores nationwide, including stores in Memphis and Nashville.

Working with the Federal Trade Commission, Tennessee and 16 other State Attorneys General are requiring Dollar Tree to sell more than 300 Family Dollar stores to a new competitor in order to complete the $9.2 billion acquisition. The affected stores will be sold to Sycamore Partners to be re-branded as DollarExpress, a new chain of deep discount stores.

“One of our concerns about the merger was that it would substantially lessen competition in markets like Nashville and Memphis,” said Attorney General Slatery. “By requiring stores to be sold to a new company in the marketplace, that competition to offer the best prices and merchandise will remain.”

The four stores being sold to DollarExpress in the Memphis and Nashville markets include:

• Family Dollar Store #758, 1945 South 3rd Street, Southgate Plaza, Memphis, TN 38109
• Family Dollar Store #942, 2252-I Lamar Avenue, Lamar Airways Shopping Center, Memphis, TN 38114
• Family Dollar Store #9312, 6195 Winchester Road, Memphis, TN 38115                                         
• Family Dollar Store #8386, 3407 Gallatin Pike, Nashville, TN 37216

Dollar Tree operates stores under both the Dollar Tree and Deals banners. Stores using the Dollar Tree banner typically price all merchandise for $1 while both Deals stores and Family Dollar stores offer additional merchandise for higher prices.

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office worked with the FTC in conducting a national review of the transaction. Other states joining Tennessee in the lawsuit include Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.