Dollar Tree breaks the $1 barrier as costs take a bite

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — Dollar Tree embedded in its very name what it stands for: Behind these doors, everything can be had for just $1.

The mantra to which the Chesapeake, Virginia, company has held true for decades will now be only mostly true.

After expanding nationwide from only a handful of stores in Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, Dollar Tree is breaking the mold and will sell items in some locations that exceed the tantalizing $1 grab-n-go price.

The cost of clothes, cars, food and just about everything else has soared this year as the global economy emerges from a pandemic uppercut and Dollar Tree has not been untouched.

Last month the retail chain said that rising shipping costs would take a bite of $1.50 to $1.60 out of its per-share profits this year. That’s a huge hit for any business, perhaps more so for one founded decades ago steadfastly calling itself “Only $1.00 Inc.”