Retailer in 118 Iowa & Wisconsin Cities to Close 590 Stores

Retail woes continue in the U.S., forcing more closures, this time from a discount store chain. Family Dollar, owned by Dollar Tree, will be closing 590 stores this year.

The Family Dollar chain of stores sells a variety of items, each less than $10. There are more than 8,000 Family Dollar stores across the U.S., including in 18 cities in Iowa (two of them in Cedar Rapids) and 100 in Wisconsin. It's not known which stores will be closing but 200 will reopen as Dollar Tree locations, which sell every item for one dollar.  Some remaining Family Dollar stores will also feature a large amount of merchandise that's one dollar. Family Dollar closed 120 stores during 2018.

Dollar Tree paid $8.5 billion for Family Dollar in 2015. Since that time, sales have struggled and Dollar Tree's stock price has dropped. Dollar Tree hopes this move can spare them further woes, and turn the company around.

This news comes just as Five Below continues its successful expansion across the country. The Cedar Rapids Five Below store celebrates its grand opening this weekend.