Notice a red sticker on a Dollar Tree item? It means the price is going up

Your next Dollar Tree run might be more expensive.

Dollar Tree is raising prices on some items to $1.50 from $1.25 — and sending sticker-toting employees through some stores to make the change.

At a Dollar Tree store in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Business Insider saw employees covering up prices on spatulas, knives, and other home goods with round, red stickers.

One of the items, a pack of vinyl cleaning gloves, still rang up at $1.25. An employee at the store said the price on the package was covered up because the gloves would cost $1.50 after Friday, though. And, at a display of reading glasses, a $1.50 price sticker appeared to have been applied over the $1.25 label.

On TikTok, Dollar General shoppers found similar red stickers on items that until recently cost $1.25 each.

One video shows a customer in a Dollar Tree store in Philadelphia where cleaning products like brooms have had their $1.25 prices covered up by red stickers. Hanging off the shelf is a sign indicating that the items are now $1.50 each.

Another video shows a wall full of kitchen tools, many of which have had their prices crossed out on the tags with a pen.

Some commenters on the videos were critical of the price increases, or said they weren’t surprised after the company had previously raised prices from $1 to $1.25. Others said they might shop elsewhere once the increases took effect. Commenters who seemed less fazed by the increase said that the $1.50 price point was still cheaper than equivalent items at other retailers.

A Dollar Tree spokesperson did not respond to questions about the price changes from BI. BI was unable to determine how many stores were increasing prices.

Dollar Tree said it would raise prices on many of its cheapest items to $1.25 in 2021. Previously, it charged $1 for many products at its stores.

Since then, the retailer has also sold items that cost up to $7 each.

Retailers from Macy’s to Walmart have cited the need to raise prices after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on a variety of trading partners after taking office this year.

Dollar Tree said it took a $70 million hit after US tariffs on imports from China briefly reached 145% earlier this year.

CEO Michael Creedon said on an earnings call earlier this month that Dollar Tree wasn’t planning to raise prices across the board in response to the tariff costs. Instead, he said, the chain would be “strategic,” including by adding more products that cost more than $1.25.

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