Family Dollar and Another Discount Chain Are Closing Stores, Starting Friday

Several discount stores have already closed this year.

There have been some notable discount store losses over the past year, despite these companies doing great business overall.

Over the summer, the Salvation Army closed two of its thrift stores: one in Manitoba, Canada, in June, and the other in Duluth, Minnesota, on July 1. That same month, the popular discount grocery chain Lidl also shuttered two of its stores in the U.S.

Even big names like Dollar General have made some cuts. This popular dollar store chain closed one of its Market stores back in July as well, and previously confirmed it's closing a different location next month.

Now, Family Dollar is joining Dollar General in upcoming closures—and discount clothing retailer Nordstrom Rack is paring down as well.

Family Dollar is shuttering a location soon.

Family Dollar is planning to shutter its store in Little Chute, Wisconsin, next month, Kauna Community News reported on Nov. 15. Donny Anderson, the location's store manager, confirmed the closure recently in a post on the Kaukauna Community Group's Facebook page. According to the post, the last day of operation for this Family Dollar location will be Dec. 17.

"It is with a heavy heart that I announce that the Little Chute Family Dollar store is closing," Anderson wrote. "We would like to thank from the bottom of our hearts the community of Little Chute, and the surrounding areas for the many, many years of supporting our store. We look forward to serving you from one of our other Fox Valley Family Dollar and Dollar Tree store locations."

Nordstrom Rack is also planning a closure.

Before the Little Chute Family Dollar closes, another discount chain will shutter a store.

Per the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, a spokesperson for Nordstrom Rack just confirmed that the company is closing a location in downtown Minneapolis this week. According to the news outlet, the Nordstrom Rack located within the IDS Center's Crystal Court will shut down permanently after its final day of business on Nov. 18. This discount clothing store has served the Minneapolis area since 2017.

Both Family Dollar and Nordstrom Rack have given insight into these closures.

Customers aren't being left in the dark about why these closures are happening.

Nordstrom Rack's parent company Nordstrom Inc. released a statement explaining that while "decisions like this are never easy," it's a necessary move for the company's portfolio.

"We approach each of our markets holistically, leveraging our combination of physical and digital assets to offer customers increased product selection, improved delivery speed and unmatched convenience," Nordstrom Inc. said, per the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. "We believe we’re best able to serve customers in the Minneapolis market by focusing on our nearby Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack locations, as well as online."

In terms of the Little Chute Family Dollar, Anderson explained that the store's lease had actually expired earlier this year. While the company was continuing to rent out the building on a month-to-month lease while "actively scouting" the area for a space to relocate the store, climbing costs have now prompted the company to close the Family Dollar altogether.

"When our corporate office went to the landlord to schedule a new temporary lease to keep our store operating while we kept looking at relocation sites, we were told that our landlord has raised the rent much, much higher than what we were paying," the store manager wrote on Facebook. "With higher rent costs and an older building that our store has outgrown a few years back, we had to think about making a very difficult decision."