A look back, a glimpse ahead.
Our roots go back more than 50 years. Here's a quick look at what we've accomplished since our beginning.
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| 1953 |
| K. R. Perry opened a Ben Franklin variety store in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, which later became K&K 5&10. Through the 1970s and 1980s, K&K 5&10 evolved and grew to a multi-state chain of toy stores, with the assistance of Dollar Tree's founders Doug Perry, Macon Brock and Ray Compton. |
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| 1986 |
| The first Dollar Tree store opened in Dalton, GA. There were five stores open by year end. |
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1991 |
| The founders turned their full attention to the growth of the dollar store concept after selling K&K Toys to KB Toys. |
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| 1995 |
| Dollar Tree Stores became a public company. Our stock is traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol DLTR. |
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| 1996 |
| We acquired Dollar Bills, Inc., a Chicago-based chain of 136 stores. We also began building new Store Support and Distribution Center in Chesapeake, Virginia, which opened in 1997. |
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| 1999 |
| Following the 1998 acquisition of the 98-Cent Clearance Centers in California, we merged with Only $One stores, based in New York state. We moved into a new Distribution Center in Olive Branch, Mississippi. |
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| 2000 - 2001 |
| Dollar Tree acquired Dollar Express, Inc., with 136 stores in six Mid-Atlantic states. We also opened distribution centers in Stockton, California, Savannah, Georgia, and Briar Creek, Pennsylvania, and expanded our Store Support Center. |
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| 2002 |
| This year, we implemented a new supply chain management system, designed to give us the tools to better respond to customers' shopping needs. Topped $2 billion in sales. |
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| 2003 |
| Acquired Greenbacks, Inc., a $1.00 price point retail chain based in Salt Lake City, UT. Opened a new distribution center in Marietta, Oklahoma.
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| 2004 |
With the opening of our first store in North Dakota, Dollar Tree operates stores in all 48 contiguous states.
Opened two new Distribution Centers: Joliet, Illinois and Ridgefield, Washington. The Joliet DC houses 1.2 million square feet. Installation of point-of-sale scanning technology was completed in all stores. Exceeded $3 billion in sales.
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| 2005 |
| Introduced a new Metropolitan Store initiative, starting with store openings on Long Island. Expanded installation of freezers and coolers, increased automated store replenishment and widened acceptance of debit and credit cards to provide greater shopping satisfaction to customers.
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| 2006 |
| In early 2006, Dollar Tree purchased 138 Deal$ stores. Deal$ stores deliver extreme value through variety merchandise sold principally for $1.00. |
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What's next
Last year we celebrated our 20th anniversary, and we're excited about the future. People can shop at one of our stores from coast to coast. We continue to introduce improvements that make shopping easier and more convenient. And we continue to search the globe for merchandise that gives our customers exactly what they're looking for. |
