Major dollar stores, such as Dollar Tree and Dollar General, have been closing and opening locations in 2026, as they seek to eliminate underperforming store and add stores in potential growth areas.
Dollar Tree opened 113 stores during the first quarter of 2026, with plans to open roughly 400 locations during the fiscal year. The chain had 9,382 locations in the U.S. and Canada as of May 2.
At the same time, Dollar Tree planned to close 75 stores by the end of 2026.
Dollar General finished its most recent store optimization program in January 2026 with 96 store closings mostly in 2025 but planned to open 400 new stores by the end of 2026. The chain also closed 45 PopShelf retail stores by the end of January 2026, Mashed reported.
And now, a dollar store chain is disappearing as a retail brand.
Hy-Vee supermarket chain’s dollar store business Dollar Fresh Market is eliminating all of its locations.
Image source: Shutterstock
Hy-Vee abandons its dollar store chain
Midwestern supermarket chain Hy-Vee said that it is discontinuing its dollar store competitor Dollar Fresh Market and transitioning its remaining 18 dollar stores to its name-brand banner, according to Grocery Dive.
Hy-Vee, which launched Dollar Fresh Market in 2018 to compete against dollar stores such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree, operated 22 locations in January 2026 when it rebranded four of its units in Dyersville, Iowa; Oak Grove, Mo.; and Harrisburg and Tea, S.D., according to the Des Moines Register.
The four Dollar Fresh Market locations remained open while they transitioned to Hy-Vee stores over several weeks and now offer an expanded inventory of products, bakeries, full-service meat counters, health markets, and prepared foods sections offering sandwiches, salads, and pizzas, according to a Hy-Vee spokesperson.
“One thing that we’re proud of – and ashamed of sometimes – is we’re not afraid to try things. We get into things, and then we get out,” CEO Jeremy Gosch said in a Sept. 24 statement.”
Closed other affiliated ventures
The Dollar Fresh Market demise is not the first time Hy-Vee has discontinued affiliated operations. The supermarket chain converted all of its 79 Wahlburgers restaurants in its supermarkets to Market Grille locations in 2025.
The four rebrandings were a gauge by the supermarket chain to see how the communities would respond to the expanded offerings and the Hy-Vee name, the company said.
“We want to test out the transition, especially in these four markets, to see if it’s going to have a significant impact on sales and foot traffic going into the store,” Hy-Vee spokesperson Tina Potthoff told Grocery Dive.
Customers prefer Hy-Vee over dollar store
The West Des Moines, Iowa-based supermarket chain discovered that the iconic, 96-year-old Hy-Vee brand resonated better with customers in rural small towns than its new start-up dollar store.
“We tried Dollar Fresh Market – a different brand, low-price operator going for real rural small towns. And what we found is a 96-year-old brand has got way more staying power in any market than trying to have a startup with a different name, because you’re known for something and that’s what you have to hang your hat on,” CEO Jeremy Gosch told Grocery Dive.
Hy-Vee, which Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg established in Beaconsfield, Iowa, in 1930, operates 275 stores in eight Midwestern states.
Related: One of oldest breweries in US closing its business permanently
