Family Dollar is going it alone.
The discount chain, which merged with Dollar Tree in 2015 after a $9 billion sale, has now been sold to two private equity firms.
Ink dried on the $1 billion deal late Monday night. Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management will take over operations for the chain's 7,000-store portfolio.
Shoppers have expressed concern that the private equity takeover could lead to a wave of closures.
Family Dollar shuttered hundreds of stores just last year.
'A lot of them will be closing soon,' one customer worried on Reddit. 'It will probably take two to three years.'
But experts are pouring cold water on predictions of mass closures in the immediate future.
'Quite a number of Family Dollar stores have already been earmarked for closure, so we're unlikely to see loads more shut in the near term,' Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at GlobalData, told DailyMail.com. 'However, the new owners will review the state of the business and might optimize the store network further.'
Family Dollar just completed its sale to two private equity firms for $1 billion
The sale ends a decade-long relationship between Dollar Tree and Family Dollar -- one that Saunders said never quite worked.
'The acquisition of Family Dollar was not successful for Dollar Tree,' Saunders said.
'Despite pumping money into it, they never managed to make the chain work.'
On paper, the brands seemed like a perfect fit.
Family Dollar stores are mostly located in major cities and stock groceries, cleaning supplies, and other low-cost essentials.
Dollar Tree stores tend to cater to middle-income communities with affordable crafts, party goods, and seasonal decorations.
The idea was that each chain would complement the other, giving the combined company greater scale and pricing power.
The two even launched hundreds of combo stores blending their product mixes.
Last year, Family Dollar closed close to 700 stores as it attempted to claw back profitability
Instead, Family Dollar became a drag on profits. Its stores have been plagued by shrinking sales, shoplifting, and aging product lineups.
It also failed to keep pace with rising competition from digital-first retailers like Temu, Shein, and Amazon—and even legacy giants like Walmart.
In 2024, nearly 700 Family Dollar stores were permanently shuttered in a last-ditch effort to salvage the merger.
Now, Dollar Tree's leadership appears relieved to be moving on.
'The completion of this transaction marks a defining moment for Dollar Tree,' Mike Creedon, Dollar Tree's top boss, said.
'Now more than ever before, we are poised to accelerate our growth, innovate faster, and unlock our full potential as a category leader in value retail.'
Neither company immediately responded to DailyMail.com's request for comment.