1953
In 1953, K.R. Perry opened a Ben Franklin variety store in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, which he later renamed K&K 5&10.
Our Dollar Tree Story
Our company roots go back more than 70 years from a variety store in Norfolk, Virginia, into one of the fastest-growing businesses in America, now operating more than 9,000 stores with 150,000 associates. Review our company history for the high points of our journey.
1950s
1970s
1970
Macon Brock, Doug Perry, and K.R. Perry started K&K Toys in Norfolk, Virginia. This mall concept toy store grew to over 130 stores on the East coast. The K&K 5&10 store continued to exist and served as the foundation for what would become Dollar Tree.
1980s
1986
Macon Brock, Doug Perry, and Ray Compton started Only $1.00 with 5 stores, one in Georgia, one in Tennessee, and three in Virginia. The expansion of dollar stores was continued alongside K&K Toys stores, mostly in enclosed malls.
1990s
1990s
Early in the 1990s, K&K Toys was sold to KB Toys, a Melville Corp., and all assets were used to expand dollar stores. We underwent a name change to Dollar Tree Stores in 1994. Then in 1995, we went public on the NASDAQ exchange at $15 a share. The market cap was calculated at $225 million. Between 1996 and 1997, we acquired Dollar Bill$, Inc., a Chicago-based chain of 136 stores, and broke ground on our first Distribution Center and new Store Support Center in Chesapeake, Virginia. At the tail end of the 1990s, we acquired the 98-Cent Clearance Centers in California and the Only $One Stores in New York. In 1999, we opened a second distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi.
2000s
2000s
In the 2000s, Dollar Tree made several acquisitions that would prove to be excellent decisions later on. In 2000, we acquired Dollar Express, a Philadelphia-based company, in 2003, we acquired Greenbacks, Inc., a Salt Lake City company, and then in 2006, we acquired 138 Deal$ stores from SUPERVALU INC.
We opened our first North Dakota store in 2004, putting us in all 48 contiguous states. In 2006, we celebrated our 20th year of retailing at a $1.00 price point and opened our 3,000th store. In 2007, we reached a market cap of $3.29 billion in sales. Finally, in 2008, our organization earned a place on the Fortune 500 list and had the number-one performing stock that year. By the end of the 2000s, Dollar Tree had moved 100 spots on the Fortune 500 list and opened/purchased seven Distribution Centers in California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Washington.
2010s
2010-2014
In 2010, Dollar Tree opened its 4,000th store and expanded into Canada with the purchase of 86 Dollar Giant Stores. This growth helped us reach $9.13 billion in sales at the end of 2012. In 2014 we opened our 5,000th store.
2015
On July 6, Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar, located in Charlotte, NC. Just after the acquisition, together we celebrated the opening of our 15,000th store.
2019
In 2019, we rolled out our Dollar Tree Plus! offerings in select stores in the United States, which allowed customers to find high-value items at $3 and $5 price points.
2020s
2020
In 2020, we exceeded $25 billion in annual sales for the first time since the organization started. We rolled out our Crafter’s Square® expansion to all U.S. Dollar Tree stores and created the DEI Executive Council to support our efforts in ensuring fair treatment and equal access to opportunities and resources.
2022
In 2022, we completed the rollout of our $1.25 price-point initiative to all Dollar Tree stores chainwide in the U.S. This is Dollar Tree's first price change in over 36 years, allowing us to continue offering all the items our customers know and love, plus hundreds of new items, all at an incredible value.
2025
In July 2025, Dollar Tree divested its Family Dollar business to Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management under an agreement made in March 2025.