Breaking the Buck

Dollar Tree has had a policy since 1986 that everything costs no more than a dollar.

The company has flirted a couple of times with breaking that policy but never on a big scale, until now.

Under cost pressures, Dollar Tree to Sell More Items Above $1.

The retailer said it would start selling products at $1.25 and $1.50 or other prices slightly above $1 in some of its stores, expanding current tests selling items at higher price points as supply-chain snarls, a tight labor market and inflation push costs higher. 

The discounter has experimented with selling items for $3 and $5 since 2019 in a shelf section labeled Dollar Tree Plus. Those tests continue in a few hundred of its roughly 7,900 Dollar Tree stores.

The addition of more above-$1 items is a response to rising costs and positive consumer feedback on tests so far, Michael Witynski, chief executive of Dollar Tree, said in an interview. With the above-$1 price point, Dollar Tree will be able to offer new products such as more frozen meat or seasonal items, said Mr. Witynski. That could encourage shoppers to spend more per trip, he said.

Name Change Needed

In Dollar Tree Plus, you don't get any more for your money. Plus means you pay more than a dollar. 

That allows more items. Why stop at $1.50? Why not Ten Dollar Tree?

Better yet, leave it open. How about Dollar Plus Tree? 

Everything costs at least a buck since that's where we are headed.