Hill District residents worry about future of Family Dollar store after sale
Dollar Tree is parting ways with Family Dollar. The two merged more than a decade ago, but Family Dollar has continued to underperform.
In Pittsburgh's Hill District, the Family Dollar is the only place for people to get certain necessities. Now people are wondering whether it will be replaced with a Dollar Tree or leave altogether.
"I would love to see the store stay here in this Hill District," said David, who lives in the Hill District. "We just had Salem's leave."
Elaine Luther, a business professor at Point Park University, said the future is uncertain for certain locations.
"I would hope that what they're doing is doing something that is helping the communities they're in, right? Because that will be ultimately the way to make more money," Luther said.
Two private equity firms are set to buy Family Dollar for $1 billion. That's just a fraction of the $9 billion that Dollar Tree spent buying it in 2015.
"I think that it could be better if they have less expense, right? And so that means that they can keep prices low, even with what's going on with tariffs and everything," Luther explained.
This comes after a series of price hikes from the retailer at a time when consumers are already crunching numbers.
"Everything's going up now, you know? Everything. You look -- eggs, everything's going up, you know? So hey, what can we do? We just gotta roll with it," David said.
"I hate to see it leave because it benefits a lot of people here," he added.
The deal is pending regulatory approval but is expected to go through next quarter.
