Dollarama facts for kids
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as | TSX: DOL S&P/TSX 60 component |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Larry Rossy |
| Headquarters | Mount Royal, Quebec, Canada |
|
Number of locations
|
1,486 (2023) |
|
Key people
|
Neil Rossy, CEO Larry Rossy (Executive Chairman) |
| Products | Cleaning supplies, toys, candy, grocery, gifts, healthcare products, kitchenware, stationery, party supplies, hardware |
| Revenue |  $5.052 billion CAD (2023) |
|
Operating income
|
$1.523 billion CAD (2023) |
| $1.191 billion CAD (2023) |
|
|
Number of employees
|
Around 24,000 (2023) |
Dollarama Inc. is a large Canadian store chain. It is based in Mount Royal, Quebec. Since 2009, it has been Canada's biggest store for items costing five dollars or less. Dollarama has over 1,400 stores across all of Canada. Most of its stores are in Ontario.
Contents
History of Dollarama
The Rossy Family Business
The first "all-dollar" store was started in Montreal in 1910. It was founded by Salim Rossy, an immigrant from Lebanon. His son, George, took over the business in 1937.
When George passed away in 1973, his son Larry Rossy became the leader. At that time, the company had 20 stores.
How Dollarama Began
By 1992, the family's discount store chain had grown to 44 locations. That year, Larry Rossy opened the very first Dollarama store. It was located in Matane, Quebec.
By the late 1990s, Dollarama was making most of the family's money. Because of this, the older family stores were either closed or changed into Dollarama stores. Larry Rossy kept opening new Dollarama stores. By 2015, there were 1,000 Dollarama locations.
In November 2004, a company called Bain Capital bought 80 percent of Dollarama. They paid $850 million US for it.
Dollarama Today
Dollarama became a public company on October 9, 2009. This means people could buy shares of the company.
In 2013, Dollarama decided to expand into Latin America. They made an agreement to share their business knowledge with Dollar City. This is a chain of dollar stores in Central America and Colombia.
In 2016, Dollarama helped sponsor the first Formula Windsor Championship car race.
In 2018, Dollarama recalled over 50,000 children's toys. This was because of safety concerns with some materials in the toys.
As of October 2021, Dollarama had many stores across Canada:
- Ontario: 539 stores
- Québec: 379 stores
- Alberta: 134 stores
- British Columbia: 111 stores
- New Brunswick: 42 stores
- Manitoba: 41 stores
- Nova Scotia: 40 stores
- Saskatchewan: 40 stores
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 25 stores
- Prince Edward Island: 5 stores
The company has plans to open 700 more stores across Canada. This includes their first store in the Yukon Territory.
How Dollarama Works
When Dollarama first started, almost all items cost $1.00 or less. In 2009, they began selling items for up to $2.00. This included prices like $1.25 and $1.50. Customers liked these new price options.
So, in August 2012, Dollarama added items for $2.50 and $3.00. Then in August 2016, they added items for $3.50 and $4.00. In 2022, Dollarama announced that its highest price would be $5.00. Having different price points helps the store offer more types of products. Dollarama has a "No Return and No Exchange Policy." This means once you buy an item, you cannot return or exchange it.
For a long time, you could only pay with cash at Dollarama stores. In 2008, they started accepting Interac debit cards. In 2011, they began selling Gift cards. By 2015, all stores accepted contactless debit payments. In March 2017, Dollarama announced that they would accept credit cards too. By the end of summer 2018, customers could pay with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
Many Dollarama stores opened in places where other stores used to be. On January 21, 2019, Dollarama launched its online store. You can buy many of their products in bulk there. About 1,000 of the 4,000 products sold in stores are available online. These are usually items that are easy to buy in larger quantities.
See also
- A Buck or Two
- Dollar Tree
- Great Canadian Dollar Store
- Your Dollar Store with More
