Discount and dollar stores are seeing growth so far this year “as economic uncertainty drives consumers to prioritize value, outperforming other non-discretionary retail sectors,” foot traffic research firm Placer.ai said in a recent report.

The report found that Dollar Tree and Five Below outperformed the overall category in terms of year-over-year (YoY) growth, while Dollar General leads in terms of visitor loyalty.

“Year-to-date, the industry is running up 3% in visits compared to the same period last year; while this isn’t necessarily far off the trends in 2024, it certainly is outperforming other non-discretionary sectors. Looking at the performance by retail chain reveals that Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Five Below are all overperforming the total category as well,” Placer.ai said.

One trend that has continued from 2024 for top performing chains is consumer loyalty. Dollar General and Dollar Tree have seen an increase in loyal visitors, defined as customers that visit three or more times per month, compared to 2024.

Dollar General specifically also has a very high level of loyal visitors, with 36% of visitors shopping at the chain three times per month. “Dollar stores fill a distinct need in shoppers’ retail rolodex, and especially as chains focus on expanding their assortments, the value proposition for customers becomes further cemented,” Placer.ai said.

This research comes after Dollar Tree said in March that it will sell its Family Dollar business for $1 billion, a fraction of the $9 billion acquisition cost it paid almost 10 years ago. “Several months after saying that it would consider selling Family Dollar, Dollar Tree on Wednesday said it would sell the business to two private equity firms for $1 billion. Family Dollar had 7,600 stores as of February 1.

The private equity firms Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management are reportedly buying Family Dollar together.