Family Dollar is the second largest variety store chain in the United States. It is one of the nation’s fastest growing discount store, which proved to be successful especially in low to middle-income neighborhoods. It offers self-service and ‘cash-and-carry’. The average size of a Family Dollar store is approximately 7,000 square feet.

Family Dollar’s legendary story started with Leon Levine when he was only 21 years old. He came up with the idea of opening a low-overhead, self-service retail store. He was hoping to do so by offering his customers different kinds of high-quality products for under $2. His family was also in the retail business, so he already knew a lot about value and customer satisfaction before he even started his enterprise.

In 1959, Leon Levine decided to launch the first Family Dollar store in Charlotte, North Carolina. He designed a general floorplan which he later used for all of his stores. Thanks to this floorplan, his customers loved the ease of shopping at Family Dollar.

During the 1960s, Family Dollar started expanding into the Southern States. In the 1970s, it went public and started offering common stock. In the 1980s, it gained ground in becoming a prominent regional discount store chain.

In 2014, Family dollar became even larger when it was acquired by Dollar Tree for $8.5 billion. Today, Family Dollar has headquartered Chesapeake, Virginia. It has over 8,000 stores in all states from Maine to Florida, except Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.