CHESAPEAKE, Va. – Although the full list has not been announced, national discount retailer Dollar Tree confirmed Monday afternoon that the Great Bend Family Dollar store at 1015 10th St. is scheduled to close in mid-May. The Dollar Tree store at 3502 10th St. will remain open. 

Dollar Tree, which the parent company for Family Dollar, announced it had closed 84 under-performing Family Dollar locations in the fourth quarter of last year, and announced plans to close nearly 400 this year. The announcement came in the company’s 2018 fourth-quarter earnings report released in early March.

As of Feb, 2, the Company operated 7,001 Dollar Trees and 8,236 Family Dollars.  

“We are optimizing our real estate portfolio by opening 550 new stores this year, all while renovating 1,000 Family Dollar stores, re-bannering 200 Family Dollar to Dollar Tree stores and closing as many as 390 Family Dollar locations,” said Kayleigh M. Painter, investor and media relations manager for Dollar Tree. “We are working with associates impacted by the closures to retain their employment status at neighboring stores.”

Dollar Tree, a Fortune 200 Company, operated 15,237 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of Feb. 2. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada.

The fate of other area stores remains unknown.

In its annual report, Gary Philbin, president and chief executive officer, cited tariffs, increased operating costs and increased property rental costs as reasons for the closures. The retailer moved “aggressively in the fourth quarter to optimize Family Dollar’s performance.”   

But, he said the company was confident and has good momentum going into 2019. “Our merchants at both banners have delivered a 2019 plan that we believe overcomes most of the effect of tariffs at the 25 percent level, and provides opportunity for margin improvements if tariffs are not increased.”