How Dollar Tree Fans Really Feel About Its Just Announced Price Hike
Dollar Tree may need to change its name to $1.25 Tree. Per MarketWatch, the retailer where all items for sale are just $1 is raising its prices to $1.25, a 25% increase. We know how much you – or at least half of you – love to buy your discounted candy at the wallet-friendly chain, followed closely by your soda and noodles, as indicated by a Mashed survey. And you still can buy those things, but the price is going up in 2,000 stores by December.
According to Bloomberg, Dollar Tree made the announcement in September that it was testing a price hike. Dollar Tree Chief Executive Officer Michael Witynski said in the statement, "Testing additional price points above $1 for Dollar Tree product will enable us over time to expand our assortments, introduce new products and meet more of our customers' everyday needs." The report went on to share that Dollar Tree had at least 15,865 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Based on its rate of expansion at the time, the chain could boast 500 Dollar Tree Plus stores – which already have a selection of items priced at $3 and $5 – by January 2022. Plus, it was forging a path to launch 1,500 more in the new year. But how do customers of this retail chain feel about that quarter increase? Luckily, social media is giving us some insight into their thoughts.
Customers have mixed feelings
Twitter was definitely down for a conversation about Dollar Tree's price hike, with one member of the Twitterverse predicting, "Dollar Tree is raising its prices from $1.00 to $1.25 which means every employee will quit when people start yelling "WHY ARE YOU CALLED DOLLAR TREE THEN?!?!?" Another user asked, "That's the real journalist question: 'Did you raise employee wages by 25%'?" This sentiment was echoed by a user who wrote, "If Dollar Tree can raise its prices, you can ask for that raise." One tweeter tied the increase to the surge in inflation in the U.S., which Reuters reports is at a 31-year high. That individual tweeted, "Dollar Tree says I see your 5-6% inflation and I'll raise to 25%."
But despite these cheeky responses, according to MarketWatch, Dollar Tree's price increase is not a response to inflation, and the retailer says the impending change has been well-received by its customer base. Dollar Tree said in a statement to the outlet that shoppers "have also indicated they are seeing price increases across the market and that Dollar Tree is still providing the products they need at an undeniable value." Per CNN Business, the upside of this $0.25 increase is the store's ability to bring back "customer favorites" and to increase overall product offerings. Of course, another Twitter user pointed out the obvious, typing, "It's still cheap af." Truth.