Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to repurpose its store fleet as an online fulfillment network, partnering with DoorDash to use its more than 9,000 stores as delivery hubs.
Chesapeake, Virginia-based discounter Dollar Tree and DoorDash on Thursday said they were teaming up to allow consumers to shop for more than 10,000 products from the chain and get them dropped off at their doors. Dollar Tree's U.S. footprint, 9,382 stores across 48 states, will fill orders for "everything from affordable essentials to seasonal favorites" that are made through the service.
Walmart and Target, among others, already use their stores as sites to fill online orders. And Family Dollar, which Dollar Tree sold for roughly $1 billion last year, in November announced it has struck a partnership with DoorDash, with about 7,000 of its stores available on the delivery app.
Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData, said Dollar Tree and Family Dollar teaming with DoorDash makes sense in that it may produce some incremental sales for both retailers.
"It also puts a stake in the ground for the dollar store chains that allows them to offer an alternative to Walmart and Amazon’s services — that defensive play is important," Saunders said in an email to CoStar News. "As to how effective it is, that remains to be seen. The biggest problem in rural areas will be the availability of drivers or couriers — but this density is improving as players like DoorDash are servicing a whole array of foodservice players and retailers."
Net sales on the rise
Brent Beebe, Dollar Tree's chief merchandising officer, in a statement said the retailer looked forward to bringing its "broad assortment of affordable products" and its "‘thrill of the hunt' experience to DoorDash customers.”
Dollar Tree reported its fiscal first-quarter earnings on Thursday, with its net sales rising 7.2% to $4.79 billion and comparable store net sales increasing 3.5%. The company opened 113 new Dollar Tree stores during the quarter, and in fiscal 2026 it plans roughly 400 store openings and 75 closings.
"These are solid results from Dollar Tree, especially as they come off the back of a strong quarter last year when sales rose by 11.3%," Saunders said in a note to clients. "The current revenue uplift of 7.2% is well above market growth, and same-store sales gains of 3.5% remain healthy. That said, there are a few shifts under the headlines that are worth noting. The main one is that traffic wasn’t so good this quarter, with a decline of around 1% over the prior year."
Now that "Dollar Tree is freed from the burden of Family Dollar, estate growth seems to be firmly back on the agenda," according to Saunders, who cited the quarter's store openings and pipeline.
"While we believe that the competitive environment is much more intense — from other dollar stores, the expansion of players like Aldi, and Walmart and Amazon’s local delivery push — there is still a big opportunity for Dollar Tree to be present in more locations," he said.
Saunders also referenced the DoorDash partnership, saying that Dollar Tree's new stores will not only "boost growth through transactions inside the four walls" but also serve as hubs for delivery.
Family Dollar optimizes fleet
"While Amazon and Walmart will always have the edge in the delivery space, there are enough consumers who are not on either platform to make this a worthwhile venture for Dollar Tree," he said. "And a partnership approach is sensible as it is capitally light and saves Dollar Tree from having to damage profitability by investing in lower-margin delivery infrastructure."
Dollar Tree didn't immediately respond to emails from CoStar News seeking comment on Saunders' remarks.
A DoorDash spokeswoman said in an email to CoStar News the company is built to link consumers with local businesses across communities of all sizes nationwide, including rural markets.
In contrast to Dollar Tree's expansion, Family Dollar is closing stores.
In March, under its new ownership, Family Dollar said it had taken "disciplined actions to optimize its store fleet, including closing underperforming locations" as part of its strategy to deliver "downstream benefits across the entire business."
Local Falcon, a self-described artificial intelligence search visibility platform, conducted an analysis that found Family Dollar had closed at least 350 stores between July 7, 2025, and May 12 this year. Local Falcon said it compared Family Dollar's public store locator at the start and end of that period. Each store listing that had been removed and returned a 404 error was then independently verified against Google Maps, according to Local Falcon.
In March, Family Dollar also announced that it planned to pilot an extra-small-store format to penetrate dense urban markets.