Families thought they knew Dollar Tree. They don’t anymore.
Prices are creeping up behind red stickers. Aisles are choked with boxes. Gift cards vanish into thin air. And somewhere on a low shelf, a recalled food pouch may still be waiting for a child’s hands.
Dollar Tree’s evolution from a predictable bargain haven into a riskier, more complicated stop reflects deeper strain beneath the surface. Quiet price hikes, signaled by red stickers, chip away at the fragile math of paycheck-to-paycheck households. Cluttered aisles and bare shelves turn a once-efficient errand into a wearying gamble: will what you need actually be there, and at the price you expect? For some, even the promise of a prepaid gift card has dissolved into disputes and dead ends.