As new Fargo Dollar Tree prepares to open, nearby Family Dollar readies to close – InForum

FARGO — As a new Dollar Tree store reads to open in north Fargo, a nearby Family Dollar store has launched a going-out-of business sale and will close when its inventory is gone.

The Family Dollar at 2820 Broadway in Fargo is the city’s only Family Dollar store. A sign on the door on Thursday, March 21, informed customers of an alternative Family Dollar at 144 Main Ave. E., in West Fargo.

The new Dollar Tree at 3131 Broadway is expected to open sometime in April, according to Rick Johnson, a Green Bay, Wisconsin, developer who set up the store and now has a long-term lease with Dollar Tree for the Fargo location.

Dollar Tree purchased Family Dollar for more than $8 billion in 2015 in a bidding war with another discount retailer, but it reportedly has had a hard time absorbing the brand. Dollar Tree announced on March 13 that it would close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of 2024 and 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores in coming years.

Johnson said that recent headlines about planned closings of Dollar Tree stores across the country aren’t as concerning for the brand as they may sound. Major retail chains open and close stores on a regular basis, he said, adding that his development company — United Development Group — continues to create spaces for Dollar Tree.

“We do these throughout the Midwest,” he said. “We just opened a store last week in Iowa and now we have this store opening (in Fargo),” he added.

United Development Group’s website lists a number of Dollar Tree projects it has built, including locations in Park Rapids and Wadena in Minnesota that opened around 2014.

Johnson noted that as a corporation Dollar Tree has a capitalization of nearly $30 billion.

“This company isn’t going away,” he said.

Although the new Dollar Tree store in north Fargo has yet to open, the property itself is on the market for about $2.1 million, according to a commercial listing.

Johnson declined to talk about the commercial listing of the property, underscoring he has a long-term lease with Dollar Tree.

Not counting the Dollar Tree that will open soon on Broadway, Fargo currently has two Dollar Tree stores, one at 4427 13th Ave. S. and one at 4801 45th St. S.

Moorhead has no Dollar Tree stores and no Family Dollar stores. Late last fall, the city of Moorhead issued a permit for a Dollar Tree planned for 828 30th Ave. S. However, the developer ultimately canceled the permit and fees were refunded.

West Fargo has no Dollar Tree stores and the store at 144 Main Ave. E. is West Fargo’s only Family Dollar.