'It's terrible': Family Dollar closures will erase six stores from the East Side (2024)

William Jefferson was at the Family Dollar store on Delevan Avenue looking for cleaning supplies recently. But with the store closing and clearance sales in full swing, it was mostly empty, with just a few odds and ends on sale.

Another customer directed him to try a different Family Dollar store at Ferry and Grider streets, but that store is closing, too, and was in similar shape.

In fact, the East Side will lose six Family Dollar locations in the coming weeks. It is part of a wave of store closures at the company, and the East Side is being hit particularly hard.

Among other stores in Western New York, these stores are closing on the city’s East Side:

It is a blow to residents, sparking concerns about access to affordable goods and employment opportunities in the community. Unlike store closures in the rest of Western New York, including a Family Dollar in Derby, closures on the East Side are more than an inconvenience.

Located in one of the region’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, these Family Dollar stores have been vital hubs for residents who rely on them for everyday essentials at reasonable prices. They’ve been a lifeline for low-income families with few options, and the multiple closures come as a distressing development for many who already face financial challenges.

Corey Wright, a customer at the East Delavan store, said he will have to walk farther to buy household essentials, or spend more of his budget on travel. Another Family Dollar store 1.5 miles away at 1185 Genesee St. remains open.

“It’s going to throw this whole area for a loop. We’re going to feel stuck,” he said. “Where can I go that I don’t have to spend $5 on the bus to get there when I only have $5 to get what I need for my house?”

One of the Family Dollar locations slated to close is next to Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue where the racist mass shooting happened on May 14, 2022. When that store temporarily closed, it highlighted the dearth of options residents had in buying fresh food and securing prescription medications and made the neighborhood’s lack of options a topic of national conversation.

While the location was closed, and being the only supermarket for miles, it handed out free food in its parking lot.

“When Tops closed on Jefferson because of what happened, nobody in our neighborhood has a car. They had to go in the parking lot to get food,” he said. “Normally, they go and walk around and pick what they want. You might not even want it but you need the food in your house. That’s what’s making me mad about the whole situation.”

Nashawne Davis, another East Side resident, is worried about the elderly, people with mobility issues and those without transportation who need to make affordable purchases.

“It’s going to be hard on them,” he said. “Some people will have no way to shop. They’re not going to have nowhere to obtain the items that they need.”

Davis himself will have to shop at closer, more expensive stores once Family Dollar is gone – something that will further eat into his budget.

“It’s kind of sad,” he said. “We have nowhere else to shop.”

Family Dollar and its parent, Dollar Tree, did not return requests for comment.

Dollar Tree said in March that it would close nearly 1,000 Family Dollar stores over the next few years – 600 this year, and phasing out another 370 as their leases expire.

The company blamed inflation, shoplifting, declining sales and a reduction in Covid-19-era government food benefits for the move. The chain was already struggling when Dollar Tree acquired it in 2015. It has had challenges keeping stores clean and shelves stocked, and was fined $40 million by the U.S. Justice Department earlier this year for keeping inventory stored in a rat-infested warehouse.

“Family Dollar is a victim of the macro environment out there,” Dollar Tree CEO Rick Dreiling said on a call with analysts last month.

At least two of the stores, at 1031 Clinton St. and 1756 Genesee St., closed Saturday.

A rumor among customers is that the stores are closing because of looting that happened on the East Side during the Christmas weekend blizzard in 2022. It’s a rumor Family Dollar has done nothing to clear up, so it has been a widespread belief among customers and a point of contention.

“It’s terrible how there was looting, and now this community is being tormented,” Jefferson said. “Any time there’s a tragedy, we gotta pay for it. I don’t know how we’re going to make it.”

But Fillmore Council Member Mitch Nowakowski, who met with parent company Dollar Tree to plead with it to stay open on Broadway and on Clinton, said looting did not factor into the company’s decision when it was closing stores. Instead, representatives told them they were getting out of expensive leases and properties they don’t own.

“With a big corporation, it’s just numbers on a spreadsheet,” he said. “They’re like, ‘We don’t own it? We don’t want it.’ “

Now, Nowakowski is pressing the landlords.

“Look, you had a tenant in Family Dollar. Have you even bothered to engage them to renegotiate a lease to have them stay?” Nowakowski said. “If you did, and they’re closing, then what’s their plan to not leave me with large, vacant structures in my district?”

The loss of the Family Dollar stores on Broadway and on Clinton leave a void that businesses, like “crummy corner stores” are likely to fill, he said.

“Some of these corner stores go shopping at Walmart and BJs, they buy in bulk, they cut up the product and then they sell individualized items for an extreme markup,” Nowakowski said. “And I can’t have that happen. It’s just it’s a detriment to the community.”

Because shoppers in these neighborhoods have such a high percentage of people without transportation, they’re more vulnerable, he said.

“It sets people back, and it basically makes them a victim to be preyed on by really crummy corner stores who provide no benefit to the neighborhood and do not provide products that are beneficial to their lives, but basically exploit their poverty by just selling booze, cigarettes, lottery and chips,” Nowakowski said.

Masten Council Member Zeneta Everhart sent a letter to Family Dollar about the closing of the Delevan Avenue store this week.

“These establishments have been invaluable to our community, offering essential groceries, household items and other products,” she wrote. “Their closure not only raises concerns about access to affordable products for the neighborhood but also prompts worries about the future of these buildings. They mustn’t become vacant and blighted.”

Everhart sought reasons for the store’s closure and urged Dollar Tree to reconsider its plans for the store.

“The Masten District needs retail stores in this location,” she wrote.

Thomas Beauford, president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League, said the closure is troubling for Buffalo’s East Side neighborhoods.

“The removal of six stores from locations on Buffalo’s East Side worsens the impact of food insecurity and reduces access to essential goods for residents,” he said. “The lack of local transportation options further compounds the challenges faced by community members, who will now be forced to travel further for common household items.”

The void left in the community needs to be addressed, he added.

“A strategic way forward should address the addition of conveniently located stores with nutritious food options and other affordably priced goods,” he said. “Larger stores that offer employment opportunities would also be of great benefit to the community,” he said.