Long gone are the days when items sold at the dollar store cost, well, a dollar.
Dollar Tree — which operates thousands of stores nationwide and a dozen in Portland — isn’t what it used to be. Once heralded as a spot where customers could get toilet paper or tool kits for only $1 a pop, prices have steadily climbed over the past few years.
First, the chain bumped its standard price point to $1.25, with more expensive items slowly cropping up on shelves. Today, products can cost up to $3, $5 or even $7.
The company itself isn’t too concerned about the change, though.
The price hikes reflect a change in consumer behavior at discount retailers like Dollar Tree — with greater cost variety allegedly attracting increased sales and a whole new audience of higher-income shoppers.
Shoppers from households with annual incomes of at least $100,000 drove a “meaningful portion” of Dollar Tree’s second-quarter sales growth, CEO Michael Creedon said during a September earnings call, as reported by Business Insider.
That number has grown over the past five years, according to reporting by CBS News.
In 2021, only 5.6% of Dollar Tree shoppers earned more than $100,000 each year — a figure that nearly doubled by 2025. Now, more affluent shoppers make up 10.3% of Dollar Tree’s customer base.
These customers are interested in the “thrill of the hunt,” according to Creedon.
“You come into Dollar Tree, you’re not exactly sure what you needed, and by the end of the first aisle, there’s a basket there because you got more than you thought you would,” he said during the earnings call reported by Business Insider. “That’s the Dollar Tree magic.”
Still, Dollar Tree offers items within a cheaper price range than many grocery stores. According to Supermarket News, the average product price is $1.40, with 85% of items at or below $2.
But don’t expect the discount chain to return to its thriftier roots.
“Expanding our assortment to include items at a variety of price points is fast becoming the standard Dollar Tree model,” Creedon said.
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