Family Dollar and Dollar Tree going side-by-side in Sharon

Michael Roknick, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read

Dec. 27—SHARON — Downtown Sharon is going Dollar for Dollar.

Family Dollar and Dollar Tree stores will set up shop side-by-side in renovated space at Sharon City Centre, Daniel Frija, the plaza's owner, said Wednesday.

"They'll be where Reyers used to be," Frija said.

After being in downtown Sharon for over 130 years — and billing itself for a time as "The World's Biggest Shoe Store" — Reyers Shoe Store moved to Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio, two years ago. Family Dollar and Dollar Tree are owned by Dollar Tree Inc., a publicly-traded company listed on Nasdaq.

"There's a bit of horse trading and math involved in the plaza's new retailer layout," Frija said.

Reyers occupied 36,000 square feet in the plaza. Family Dollar already has a 8,500 square-foot store at the site.

Family Dollar will relocate into a newly-created 10,000 square foot store carved out of the former Reyers. Dollar Tree will create a brand new store in 10,000 square feet of former Reyers space adjacent to Family Dollar.

That means there will be 16,000 square feet of leftover former Reyers space available for any new tenant. And the Family Dollar will leave another 8,500 square feet of vacant space, Frija said.

"Anyone knowing of somebody wanting to go into those spaces let me know," he said.

Dollar Tree is expected to open its new store Feb. 1, with Family Dollar expected to open its relocated store by the end of March, Frija said.

Housing the two stores together isn't a fluke.

"They've been doing this elsewhere with great success," he said.

An e-mail to Dollar Tree Inc.'s Chesapeake, Va., office wasn't immediately returned late Wednesday afternoon.

These combo stores are part of the company's strategy to boost overall sales. At the end of fiscal 2022, there were about 810 of these side-by-side stores with more planned, the company said on its website.

While having the same owner and similar names, there are differences between these two discount stores. There's no price limit on Family Dollar items, while Dollar Tree sets a $1.25 maximum price tag on its products.

Family Dollar lists other stores near Sharon in Farrell, Brookfield and Transfer. Dollar Tree's nearby locations are in Hermitage and Hubbard.

In all, there's over 8,000 Dollar Tree stores in U.S. and Canada and over 8,400 Family Dollar stores.

Mirroring the nation over the past five years the local area has seen an explosion of these neighborhood discount shops.

Dollar General earlier this month opened a new Sharon store on Sharpsville Avenue to go with its East State Street store in the city. With four Dollar General stores. Hermitage has the most of the two dozen or so Dollar Generals throughout the Mercer County area.