A Dollar Tree Store in Barre, Vt., is seen Monday, Feb. 8, 2010.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)                                                                     Dollar Tree is buying rival discount store Family Dollar in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $8.5 billion. Dollar Tree CEO Bob Sasser says the deal will give Dollar Tree more than 13,000 stores in the US and Canada. That is nearly three times as many stores as Walmart, though the Waltons’ behemoth still has greater square footage. The combined Dollar Tree-Family Dollar chain will have sales of more than $18 billion and Sasser says that the transaction will create a more diverse company with an enhanced geographic reach. The Family Dollar brand will continue to operate. 

 

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