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Who owns Dollar Tree? Store looted and set afire after Daunte Wright shooting, trolls say 'looting on a budget'

'Who loots a dollar tree lmao risking it for some stale food,' jokes a user

Following the shooting of Daunte Wright, chaos has descended on the streets of Brooklyn Centre, Minnesota. Protests and demonstrations have entered their second night, and led to violence and looting, videos on social media show. One of the affected stores includes discount shop Dollar Tree, which has been looted and burnt. 

Footage posted on Twitter shows predominantly White looters attacking the store, leading to a lot of condemnation online. Many people are shocked that the store was one of the venues attacked, while others have slammed the company for profiting from poverty. 

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The company is yet to put out an official statement regarding the events, which have left the building completely destroyed. Here's everything we know about the incident.

Who owns Dollar Tree?

Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, Dollar Tree is a Fortune 500 company with over 15,000 stores in the US and Canada. The discount variety store company was founded in 1986 as 'Only $1.00' by Doug Perry, Macon Brock, and Ray Compton. In 1993, it was rebranded to Dollar Tree and went public in 1995. It is now publicly traded on NASDAQ, with a stock price of around $120 per share. Stocks have been falling over the last week, and are now at around $117. It is unclear if the price has been affected by the incident. 

The company is currently run by Gary M Philbin, who has been the CEO since 2017. A graduate of Xavier and Miami universities, Philbin has been with the company in a variety of positions since 2012. He has previously worked at Kroger, SuperValu, and Grand Union. Dollar Tree also owns the retail chain Family Dollar, a chain that sells similar low-cost retail goods.  

The store has become a popular option, especially in low-income neighborhoods where it is more predominant. One person tweeted, "You often find Dollar Trees in almost any predominantly minority community because *surprise surprise* poverty so it’s super affordable but also that means the quality of the goods there may not be that great, and something about that feels intentional and systemic."

That sentiment was echoed by artist and activist Bree Newsome Bass. She tweeted, "How exactly does breaking into a Dollar Tree constitute “violence”? Dollar Tree is a multi-billion dollar corporation that has a pattern setting up shop in poorer communities & damaging the economy by employing fewer ppl & displacing small businesses & full service groceries..."

Looters target Brooklyn Centre store

CNN correspondent Sara Sidner was one of the first to report on the looting of the store. In a tweet, she said, "Police have pushed protestors into the parking lot of the dollar tree. Huge police line saying “move you will be arrested”. media being told we will be detained if we don’t move to the gas station about 200 feet away."

An independent reporter Brendan Gutenschwager also tweeted a video showing the store's facade filled with graffiti, glass broken and smoke coming from inside the store. He tweeted, Dollar Tree has been looted and set on fire here in Brooklyn Center," along with the video.

Another journalist Julio Rosas captured looters in the store. In his video, some White people can be seen rushing into the store and trashing it, while others mill around outside.  He tweeted, "Because officers were occupied with guarding the Brooklyn Center police building, stores nearby, like this Dollar Tree, was ransacked by looters."

Since then, many have taken to social media to troll Dollar Tree and the police response, by comparing it with the Capitol insurrection on January 6. Journalist Cassandra Fairbanks tweeted, "I am going to laugh about them looting a dollar tree for years". One said, "Dollar Tree Looting On A Budget." while another joked, "Who loots a dollar tree lmao risking it for some stale food"

Others slammed those who criticized the looting of the store. "If you're upset about a dollar tree being looted, it's because you inherently value cheap merchandise over black life and that says a lot about you," a person tweeted. Another said, "People are mad that a Dollar Tree got looted? Dollar-store chains have been looting under-served neighborhoods for decades. Be mad about that."

Comparisons to the insurrection were also abundant. One person tweeted, "So....the Dollar Tree was looted and there is mad concern. There's an insurrection...and we need to move on... Got it." Another tweeted, "I’m sorry but I can’t get over the fact that they deployed the national guard more quickly to defend a Dollar Tree than they did to defend the f**king United States Capitol."

Police have since been deployed to the store and cleared out anyone else near it. Reportedly, around 40 people have been arrested, while others have been cleared using chemical irritants and flashbangs.