Dollar Tree is crushing Dollar General in a key sales metric. I visited the rival stores, and it's strikingly clear why Dollar Tree is winning. (2024)

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My first stop was a Dollar Tree store at a mall in Waldorf, Maryland.

There was a wide variety of stuff inside, and it was almost all neat and tidy.

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One thing I noticed right away: Dollar Tree sticks closely to its $1.25 price point for most items. Other dollar stores carry higher-priced items, as I'd soon learn. After I visited, Dollar Tree announced it would be raising prices on some items.

Like most dollar stores, there wasn't any fresh produce, but there was a wide range of frozen and packaged foods.

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Startup brands like Flow water were well-represented on Dollar Tree's shelves.

Signage above the food section called attention to Dollar Tree's selection of snacks, which I found to be the most impressive part of the store.

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Some were things I had never seen before, such as these fruit snacks flavored like an Arnold Palmer.

There were also lots of well-established brands, such as this orange soda from Faygo, which traces its roots over a century ago to Michigan.

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In general, the shelves seemed well-stocked. I wouldn't have a problem stocking my pantry at a store like this.

And unlike some Dollar General stores that I've reported on, the aisles were free of any boxes, unpacked merchandise, or other obstructions.

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I ended up buying a few snacks and drinks as well as this pack of plastic food containers.

This Dollar Tree also had a wide selection of crafting and wrapping supplies, such as these gift bags.

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I'm not a regular shopper at craft stores like Michael's, but this could be a money-saving alternative to those chains, depending on what you need.

Overall, it was a fine experience. I found something that I needed for my kitchen, and I was impressed by the snack selection.

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My next stop was Dollar General. This store was also in Waldorf, though it was a few miles down the road from the Dollar Tree and is a stand-alone location instead of being part of a mall.

This store reminded me of pictures that shoppers and workers had sent me before. I saw unpacked merchandise blocked many of the aisles, and what was on the shelves was often a mess.

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Grey plastic totes used to ship inventory from Dollar General distribution centers sat overflowing — or, in this case, on top of — the stuff that was actually for sale.

I visited this store in the early afternoon, and there appeared to be just one employee on duty. They were dividing their time between stocking shelves and ringing up customers at the register.

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The boxes of unpacked merchandise blocked many of the shelves, making it hard to get a full picture of the merchandise that this store offered.

Some sections were relatively more tidy and well-stocked, such as this cooler containing milk and juice.

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Other sections, such as this selection of school supplies, appeared simultaneously messy and understocked.

Outside, I found rolltainers that were mostly full of cardboard boxes.

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In between some of the rolltainers, I found jugs of milk and other dairy products that appeared to have sat out of refrigeration for too long and spoiled.

It clearly wasn't for sale anymore, but I wondered what had happened to it before it was thrown out, especially since it appeared to be well past its sell-by date.

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Overall, the store was just too chaotic to shop at. Unless it was my only option, I wouldn't go there.

Fortunately, Dollar General is far from the only shopping option in Waldorf. There's a Food Lion less than a mile away, for instance.

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And just half a mile in the same direction is this Family Dollar store, where I stopped next.

As I walked in, an employee greeted me and said "Welcome to Family Dollar." That didn't happen at either of the two stores that I visited previously.

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The store was a sharp contrast with the Dollar General I visited. The shelves were well-stocked, and the aisles were clear of boxes and inventory waiting to be unpacked.

The range of grocery items was similar to Dollar General and Dollar Tree. There still wasn't any fresh produce, but items like milk were available.

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There were also lots of store-brand imitators of brand-name products, such as these "Pop-Ups."

Like Dollar Tree, this store also had boxes of Flow water and other upstart food brands.

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But that selection comes at a price — literally. Many of the products at Family Dollar are far too expensive for a store like Dollar Tree to carry for just $1.25.

Family Dollar had a selection of name-brand baby diapers, for example, which were on sale at two packs for $19.

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In that sense, the Family Dollar store I visited felt like a mini-Big Box store, or the small-format stores that Target has opened in many urban areas.

Overall, the dollar stores I visited seemed best for packaged foods and random household goods, such as the food containers that I bought at Dollar Tree.

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If I lived in a community that had all three stores and had to pick between them, I'd probably shop at Family Dollar. The store was clean, the staff was friendly, and the selection of products seemed to be widest, although it was the priciest.