Family Dollar was founded in 1959 by Leon Levine, a 21-year-old entrepreneur. In November of that year, the companys first store was opened, in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1961, their first store in South Carolina opened, followed by stores in Georgia and Virginia, which were opened in 1962 and 1965, respectively. During the 1960s, the store company was largely a southern United States operation. By 1969, there were fifty stores in Charlotte alone. On July 28, 2014, Dollar Tree announced that it would acquire Family Dollar for $74.50 per share, a deal valuing Family Dollar at $8.5 billion, and that Dollar Tree would also assume $1 billion in debt currently owed by Family Dollar, for a total of $9.5 billion. This acquisition allowed for Dollar Tree to grow their dollar store network to over 13,000 stores and annual sales exceeding $20B a year. Headquartered in Chesapeake, VA, Dollar Tree is the largest and most successful single-price-point retailer in North America, operating thou-sands of stores across 48 contiguous U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, supported by a solid and scaleable logistics network.