Dollar Tree, Inc.
Company History
Dollar Tree History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1986 in Norfolk, Virginia
When was Dollar Tree founded?
Dollar Tree was founded in 1986 in Norfolk, Virginia by Macon Brock, J. Douglas Perry and Ray Compton, making it 40 years old.
- Founded
- 1986
- Founding place
- Norfolk, Virginia
- Founders
- Macon Brock, J. Douglas Perry and Ray Compton
- Headquarters today
- Chesapeake, Virginia
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1986–2026)
- Current CEO
- Michael C. Creedon Jr.
- Acquisitions
- 4
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Only $1.00 Opens |
| 1993 | Renamed Dollar Tree |
| 1995 | NASDAQ IPO |
| 2003 | Greenbacks Acquired |
| 2006 | Deal$ Stores Acquired |
| 2010 | Entry into Canada |
| 2015 | Family Dollar Acquisition |
| 2021 | Base Price Rises to $1.25 |
| 2024 | Mike Creedon Named CEO |
| 2025 | Family Dollar Sale Completed |
| 2026 | FY2025 Net Sales Reach $19.4 Billion |
| 2026 | Tariff Refunds Lift Q2 Earnings |
- Where was Dollar Tree founded?
- Dollar Tree was founded in Norfolk, Virginia in 1986.
- Who founded Dollar Tree?
- Dollar Tree was founded by Macon Brock, J. Douglas Perry and Ray Compton.
- When did Dollar Tree start?
- Dollar Tree was founded in 1986.
- How old is Dollar Tree?
- Dollar Tree is 40 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Dollar Tree grew out of a Virginia retail family business. K.R. Perry opened a Ben Franklin variety store in Norfolk in 1953, and in 1970 he and his son-in-law Macon Brock started the K&K Toys chain. In 1986 Brock, Doug Perry and Ray Compton tested a single-price concept called Only $1.00 inside their toy-store network. The format outperformed toys, so they sold K&K Toys in 1991, renamed the dollar chain Dollar Tree in 1993 and took it public on NASDAQ in 1995.
Founders
Macon Brock
Macon Brock co-founded Dollar Tree in 1986 with Doug Perry and Ray Compton after years running K&K Toys. He served as the company's president and later chief executive, then as chairman, guiding its shift from a toy-store side project into a national single-price chain, its 1993 rename to Dollar Tree and its 1995 NASDAQ listing. Brock and his wife Joan were prominent philanthropists in Hampton Roads, Virginia. He died in 2019. Macon Brock was born in 1942.
J. Douglas Perry
J. Douglas (Doug) Perry co-founded Only $1.00 in 1986 alongside Macon Brock and Ray Compton and served as Dollar Tree's chairman for much of its early public-company history. His family's variety-store roots shaped the treasure-hunt merchandising that defined the chain, and he remained a long-serving board member after stepping back from management. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Ray Compton
H. Ray Compton co-founded Dollar Tree in 1986 and served as a senior executive, including chief financial officer, during the chain's early expansion and its 1995 initial public offering. He later served on the company's board of directors for many years. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Only $1.00 Opens
Macon Brock, Doug Perry and Ray Compton open the single-price Only $1.00 concept alongside their K&K Toys stores in Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgRenamed Dollar Tree
Two years after selling K&K Toys, the founders rename the dollar chain Dollar Tree to support a national rollout.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgNASDAQ IPO
Dollar Tree lists on NASDAQ under the ticker DLTR, funding store expansion and distribution centers.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgGreenbacks Acquired
Dollar Tree bought the Utah-based chain Greenbacks in 2003.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgDeal$ Stores Acquired
Dollar Tree bought 138 Deal$ stores from Supervalu in 2006.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEntry into Canada
Dollar Tree acquires Canadian chain Dollar Giant, forming the basis of the Dollar Tree Canada banner.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFamily Dollar Acquisition
Dollar Tree completes its roughly $8.5 billion acquisition of Family Dollar after outbidding Dollar General.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBase Price Rises to $1.25
Dollar Tree moves its core price point from $1.00 to $1.25 to offset freight, wage and product-cost inflation.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMike Creedon Named CEO
Mike Creedon becomes interim CEO in November 2024 after Rick Dreiling steps down for health reasons and is named permanent CEO in December 2024.
Source: corporate.dollartree.comFamily Dollar Sale Completed
Dollar Tree sells Family Dollar to Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management for a base purchase price of about $1.0 billion.
Source: corporate.dollartree.comFY2025 Net Sales Reach $19.4 Billion
Dollar Tree reports fiscal 2025 net sales of $19.41 billion, up 10%, with comparable sales up 5.3% and 9,282 stores at year-end.
Source: corporate.dollartree.comTariff Refunds Lift Q2 Earnings
Q2 fiscal 2026 net sales rise 7.0% to $4.9 billion; diluted EPS of $2.70 includes a $1.31 benefit from IEEPA tariff refunds, and the store count reaches 9,436.
Source: corporate.dollartree.comMajor Acquisitions
Greenbacks
2003Dollar Tree acquired Greenbacks in 2003.
Dollar Giant
2010Entry into Canada; became the Dollar Tree Canada banner.
Family Dollar
2015To add a multi-price neighborhood consumables chain and block Dollar General's competing bid.
Dollar Express
2017Reacquired stores that had been divested to Dollar Express to win FTC approval for the Family Dollar deal, after that operator faltered.
Keep researching Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree Company History FAQ
What is the chronological history of Dollar Tree from 1986 to the present day?
Founded in 1986 as Only $1.00, the company was renamed Dollar Tree in 1993, went public on NASDAQ in 1995, entered Canada in 2010, bought Family Dollar for about $8.5 billion in 2015, moved to a $1.25 base price in 2021, rolled out multi-price stores and sold Family Dollar in July 2025.
What was the historic announcement breaking the $1.00 price point on November 23, 2021?
On November 23, 2021, Dollar Tree announced it was permanently raising its base price from $1.00 to $1.25 across all US stores, ending 35 years of single-dollar pricing to combat freight inflation and expand product quality.
When did Dollar Tree launch the multi-price '$3, $5, $7 More Choices' rollout across its store fleet?
Dollar Tree began expanding multi-price 'More Choices' sections in 2023 to 2024, deploying curated higher-value merchandise across thousands of stores to meet consumer demand for frozen meats, apparel, and premium household items.
When did Dollar Tree sell Family Dollar?
Dollar Tree completed the sale of Family Dollar in July 2025 to Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management for a base purchase price of about $1.0 billion.
How did Dollar Tree start?
Dollar Tree started as a single five-and-dime store opened by J. Douglas Perry in Norfolk, Virginia in 1953. It eventually morphed into a mall-based toy store called K&K Toys before the founders aggressively pivoted to the "Only $1.00" concept in 1986.
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