Family Dollar and Dollar Tree merged in 2015 before splitting in 2025

Dollar General vs Dollar Tree vs Family Dollar: What's the difference?

A recent article claims that at Dollar Tree, almost all of the items are $1.25, although inventory seems more limited. At Family Dollar and Dollar General, prices tend to be slightly higher, though they often carry name brands.

Dollar Tree was increasingly targeting higher-income shoppers in 2026

Dollar Tree stores have been opening in wealthier areas in recent months, with its 9,000th store opening in 2025 within a few miles of a Louis Vuitton store and a Porsche dealership. A recent survey found that 19% of the money spent at dollar stores came from households with annual income exceeding $100,000.

The modern large chain dollar store business model originated in the South

The first Dollar General store opened in Kentucky, the first Family Dollar in North Carolina, and the first Dollar Tree in Southern Virginia. To this day, dollar stores have more distribution centers in the South than anywhere else in the US.

Dollar stores tend to be smaller in size than other retail stores

A typical Dollar Tree is roughly 8,000 to 12,000 square feet. That's about one-eighteenth of the average Walmart store. Some experts suggest Dollar Tree keeps its stores smaller intentionally, so that customers can see all the products faster, increasing their likelihood of seeing something they want to buy.

11,000 new US dollar stores opened between 2007 and 2017

Dollar store retailers experienced significant fiscal gains during the 2010s, which were then accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But in recent years, dollar stores have been closing in large numbers and suffering financial hardship. Experts point to Walmart's strategy of decreasing prices to cater to inflation-fatigued customers, and point out that when Walmart does well financially, dollar stores typically suffer.

Dollar stores procure their merchandise in bulk to help cut costs

In order to keep prices cheap, dollar stores source this merchandise from a variety of places, including liquidation sales (an event that happens when retailers need to sell off inventory quickly), directly from distributors, foreign markets, and more.

A private equity firm led the leveraged buyout of Toys 'R' Us before the company's bankruptcy

After being acquired by two private equity firms and a real estate company for more than $6B in 2005, Toys 'R' Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017. Many point to the $400M a year the company had to pay to service its debt, as well as increased competition from online retailers like Amazon, for draining its profits and ultimately dragging it under.

In 2006, Macy's was worth $20B—but as of 2024, its market cap was just under $5B

Macy's went from roughly 800 to 500 stores within the same time period. Macy’s has spent the recent years since the pandemic closing swaths of stores.

Walmart was the first traditional retailer to crack the $1T club

In early 2026, the company joined major tech companies Nvidia, Apple, and Meta (among others) as one of the rare firms with a market capitalization beyond $1T. See the latest top companies here.

The funeral home industry is increasingly consolidating via private equity firms

A growing share of the funeral home industry is being acquired by private equity-backed firms. A 2022 article states that about 20% of this $23B business is owned by funeral home chains, and private equity-backed firms own about a quarter of those.

In 2023 and the first half of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway bought back more than $12B of its own stock

In the second half of 2024, the company—and Buffett—decided to buy up shares of Domino’s Pizza, Pool, Sirius XM Holdings, and Liberty Media. They also decided to sell Capital One, Ulta Beauty, and Nu Holdings, among others. Learn why Buffett is buying and selling these stocks and what it could mean for the financial conglomerate.

Macy’s doesn’t own its flagship location because of the 'million dollar corner'

When Macy’s moved to the Herald Square location, it reached a verbal agreement to acquire that corner of land—but at the last minute, it was sold to a rival store for roughly $1M.

In 2025, ByteDance agreed to sell the app's US branch

In 2024, US lawmakers passed a requirement for parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the country, which the company challenged in court. After several extensions granted by President Trump, ByteDance agreed to sell the company's US branch to a group of US investors, including Oracle, which will oversee the app's security and cloud computing.

Peter Thiel and Elon Musk formed PayPal after merging two dot-com companies

Elon Musk cofounded "X.com," an online banking service, in 1999 with the idea that the web would become a financial repository as internet access expanded and became ingrained in daily life. Peter Thiel cofounded "Confinity" as a digital security service that morphed into a payments system. In 2000, the two merged to form PayPal, and in 2002, they sold PayPal to eBay for $1.5B.

In 2025, President Donald Trump signed an order shrinking the Department of Education

On March 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the U.S. Department of Education, though complete dismantlement requires congressional approval.

Disney World was originally known as the 'Florida Project'

Between 1964 and 1965, Disney quietly bought over 27,000 acres under fake names to keep prices low. But when the Orlando Sentinel exposed the scheme, Disney had to go public—forever changing Florida’s tourism industry.

The average grocery trip in 2025 totaled $150.84, up 3.6% from the previous year

That's according to data from Consumer Affairs. Some prices, like for specific sodas and breakfast cereals, increased by more than 20% over the same time period.

FTX, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, collapsed in 2022

As crypto markets declined during the post-pandemic slowdown, Sam Bankman-Fried propped up the markets with billions he'd earned leading FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges. Then, in one of the most rapid financial implosions in modern history, the exchange collapsed as investors rushed to withdraw money.

The Lauder family still owns more than 80% of Estée Lauder Companies

When Estée Lauder went public in 1995, the company implemented a dual-class stock structure to retain family ownership of the company. Alongside owning a majority of the stock, almost everyone in the family also works within the company, leading to the family's reputation as a cosmetic dynasty.

The Black Friday Archive collects Black Friday ads from the past 25 years

The archive features advertisements from notable retailers such as Bath & Body Works, Gap, and The Home Depot, among others. These ads span from the years 2000 to 2024, in addition to some from early holiday sales at Macy’s in 1963.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency leads the US response to disasters

Established in 1979, FEMA coordinates the government's response to hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and other disasters, providing funding, logistical support, and recovery assistance. In FY 2024, the agency spent $35.1B, nearly 40% of the Department of Homeland Security's total budget.

Rivalry between the AFL and NFL led to a merger—and the creation of the Super Bowl

Competition between the American Football League and the National Football League led to a 1966 merger agreement, with the Super Bowl created as a championship game to determine league supremacy before the two leagues were fully integrated.

Temu was losing an average of $30 per order as of 2024

Some business experts have made the argument that Temu is more focused on rapidly gaining market share and growing its customer base than achieving profitability.

Family offices have a median of $476M in managed assets

There are several types of family offices that cater to ultra-high net worth individuals, starting with single-family offices that cost an average of $3.2M annually.

GE’s removal marked the end of an era for the Dow

General Electric, the last surviving original Dow component, was dropped in 2018, after years of decline. Its exit symbolized the fading dominance of industrial giants and the index’s shift toward technology and healthcare.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

See the evolution of Ebola vaccine and treatment development.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.