Thanks to The Suburban, the Newsletter of the Suburban Acres Civic League, for the following article.
The new, 7500 square foot Dollar Tree is open at Wards Corner in the space formerly occupied by the Number 1 China restaurant at 7635 Granby Street. The store opened July 17th, and celebrated its grand opening on the 19th.
Dollar Tree’s Store No. 5000 returns to Wards Corner where the chain began. K.R. Perry’s Norfolk Ben Franklin stores and the “5 & 10” area of K.R. Perry, Doug Perry, and Macon Brock’s K & K Toys were the basis of the future “everything for a dollar” concept. In 1986 “Only $1.00” Store Number 1 opened in Wards Corner along with two other Virginia stores, and one each in Tennessee and Georgia.
The K & K Toys side of the business was sold off to KB Toys so the business could focus on their everything for a dollar concept; the name of the stores was changed from Only $1.00 to Dollar Tree in 1993. Dollar Tree Stores is now a publicly traded company, and earned a place in the Fortune 500 in 2008.
The former Wards Corner Dollar Tree store in Suburban Park Shopping Center closed last year to make way for the site’s redevelopment.
Store Manager John Corwin is excited to welcome the customers back and said, “We are just really glad to be back in Wards Corner.” Corwin said all or the store’s associates are new hires, but two of the assistant managers are from the previous Wards Corner Store.
Corwin came from the Dollar Tree Deals side of the company, and has been with Dollar Tree for about a year. Corwin’s prior retail experience includes 11 years with Dollar General, where he was a district manager.
The new Dollar Tree is spacious, and includes a refrigerated and frozen foods section.
Dollar Tree’s first distribution center, its store support center, and company headquarters are located in Chesapeake.
Wards Corner Now - Wards Corner, Norfolk, Virginia 
I was born and raised in Suburban Acres and am excited about the revival. Wards Corner is in desparate need of a fine restaurant, a family restaurant, Trader Joes, and a retail store (perhaps a Steinmart). Is the city negotiating with any retail stores or restaurants?
Very Happy to see Dollar Tree return to Wards Corner!Kudos to Wards Corner Now for always keeping us informed on what is happening in the Wards Corner corridor in a very timely manner!
I was born and raised near the Wards Corner area for a number of years, and have been a devoted Dollar Tree shopper since ’93! Very glad to see more businesses coming into Wards Corner – the residents definitely deserve it! 🙂
Dollar Tree did a great job with this store. It’s nice to have them back. Super article here. We have a lot of positive history in Ward’s Corner and much more to come!
I was in the Dollar Tree for the first time the other day since it returned to Wards Corner and it looks beautiful and very clean! They did a great job on the store. The employees were smiling and very friendly. Welcome Back Dollar Tree!