Dollar Tree customers are speculating whether the national discount store chain has been able to improve inventory after the company raised its baseline price from $1 to $1.25.
One TikTok user who seemingly visits Dollar Tree often seems to believe so, and she’s created a series of viral videos highlighting the interesting products she finds with the tagline: "What the extra 25 cents did to Dollar Tree."
The shopping series, which comes from a self-employed style content creator who goes by the TikTok handle @Juliaa.Vids, 19, shows the discount chain has been carrying a selection of unexpected name brand products, from fashion-forward cell phone cases to beauty and hygiene products.
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Examples of Juliaa.Vids’ Dollar Tree finds include cell phone cases from E-Circuit and Wildflower Cases, two mobile device case makers, nail polish bottles from Essie, a leading nail polish brand that’s currently owned by L'Oréal, and lipstick tubes, also owned by L'Oréal.
Juliaa.Vids has also spotted a Barbie-themed travel dentistry kit from Brush Buddies, an oral care manufacturer that makes toothbrushes, flossers and toothpaste, many of which feature iconic characters from toy and media franchises, including Hot Wheels and Blippi.
"I shop at Dollar Tree to get the best deals on items that would cost 10 dollars at most stores," Juliaa.Vids wrote in an email to FOX Business.
The exact Dollar Tree locations that are featured in Juliaa.Vids’ shopping series is currently unknown, but most of the videos she’s shared on TikTok appear to be filmed in-store.
Juliaa.Vids appears to have started her "What the extra 25 cents did to Dollar Tree" in mid-June.
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The Dollar Tree video that has had the widest reach for Juliaa.Vids was posted on June 26, and has garnered over 1.8 million views.
TikTok users who have come across the series appear to split on whether Dollar Tree inventory has improved since the price raise.
"I [for real] just got the nicest gelpens I've ever used in my life at Dollar Tree a couple days a go like??" one TikTok user wrote under the viral video from June 26.
"Actually my dollar tree got ben and jerry’s," another user commented. "That’s what our 25 cents did for me."
"My dollar tree had Hair Food shampoo yesterday!" another user shared.
Several TikTok users have expressed their surprise and excitement at seeing Essie nail polish at the discount chain, many of which retail around $10 for a single bottle at CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, according to the nail polish company’s linked retailers listed on essie.com.
Other beauty items Juliaa.Vids has highlighted include hair accessories, lip glosses and blemish stickers.
Some TikTok users have disagreed with Juliaa.Vids and claim they’ve seen recognizable brands at the discount chain before the price change.
Others have speculated that some of the products shown in the ongoing video series may have been stocked at another retailer.
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Dollar Tree, Inc., a subsidiary of the larger Family Dollar discount store chain, first announced its baseline price of $1 would be increased to $1.25 in 2021, according to reports from the Associated Press, at the time.
The price raise came nearly three decades after the dollar store’s founding, which started in Norfolk, Virginia, by businessmen K. R. Perry, Doug Perry and Macon Brock.
"At Dollar Tree, we know our shoppers love the hidden treasures they can find for just $1.25," a spokesperson from Dollar Tree wrote in an email to FOX Business.
"By expanding our price points from just $1 to $1.25 (and beyond), we're able to expand our products and bring in even higher quality items," the company elaborated. "Our expanded product assortment has been met with rave reviews from our shoppers."
Before Dollar Tree became the brand it is today, the company was once known as Only $1.00, which operated from 1986 to 1993, and before that it was a toy store known as K&K 5&10, which operated from 1953 to 1986, according to Dollar Tree’s corporate website.
Today Dollar Tree is a multi-price-point chain of discount stores headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia.
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The brand is a publicly traded Fortune 500 company that operates over 15,000 stores in 48 states in the U.S. and Canada.
