Family Dollar to shut down 6 Philly stores amid nationwide closures

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Six Family Dollar stores in Philadelphia are among the 600 locations that are planned to permanently close this year.

Stores in Point Breeze, West Allegheny, Kensington and Mill Creek, as well as two locations in Nicetown-Tioga will all close on April 20.

The closures will impact 62 employees, according to a filing with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Dollar Tree, which owns budget retailers Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and Enterprise, announced they are closing 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this fiscal year — about 15% of the Family Dollar chain — and another 370 as their leases expire.

Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar for more than $8 billion in 2015 after a bidding war with rival Dollar General, but it has had difficulty absorbing the chain.

Net sales at Family Dollar were down 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to fiscal reports.

Dollar Tree and Enterprise stores each reported increases in sales in the quarter. Nonetheless, the company plans to close 30 Dollar Tree locations nationally at the end of their leases.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.