By Arlenys Tabare
High inflation, changes in consumer habits, the push for ecommerce, as well as a high rate of shoplifting, pressured many retail chains to close several of their locations in recent years.
Among the first to announce this wave of closures was Greenback Tree, parent company of Family Greenback, which during 2024 reported that had plans to close at least 1,000 stores at the end of the stores’ lease terms.
So over the past 10 months, discount retailer Family Greenback has closed at least 350 locations across most of the country. These closures represent approximately 4.69% of the chainthat is, the company still has some 7,112 establishments.
However, the Family Greenback closures have not affected all states the same; There are entities where their stores were left intact, as is the case of Idaho, Massachusetts, Montana, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, which still have on average between 30 and 80 stores.
While the states where there were the most closures were Texas, Ohio, Georgia. According to data from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by 2024, Family Tree had about 8,359 stores and it is estimated that In the last two years, establishment losses reached 1,247.
In this regard, Rick Dreiling, CEO of Greenback Tree, indicated that “persistent inflation and reduced government aid continued to put pressure on low-income consumers, who make up a substantial part of Family Greenback’s clientele.”
According to Dreiling, Family Greenback’s fourth-quarter comparable sales decreased 1.2%, as a 0.7% increase in traffic was more than offset by a 2% decline in sales.
Since inflation soared, American consumers have been very cautious with their spending, which is why many retail chains in recent years have had to implement strategies to stay in the midst of a sharp drop in sales.
In this sense, Duncan McNaughton, president and CEO of Family Greenback, noted that “Over the past year, we have taken disciplined steps to strengthen the foundation of Family Greenback, and the progress we are seeing reflects the focus and commitment of our teams across the organization,” he said.
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