The Companies Behind the Dollar Store Private Labels

Most stores have their own private labels. Private labels — also called house brands — are brands specific to that store. Dollar General, for example, stocks certain food products under the Clover Valley label. Dollar Tree sells electronics under E-Circuit. Family Dollar sells cereal under Chestnut Hill.

Some shoppers, perhaps understandably, confuse those private labels for actual companies. On our sister site, Aldi Reviewer, I sometimes get people who reach out asking about the contact information for “companies” like Friendly Farms or Gardenline. Except Friendly Farms and Gardenline aren’t companies: they’re Aldi house brands.

The same goes for all those labels you see at dollar stores. They’re not separate companies: they’re brands created by the dollar stores themselves. Often those brands are created by contracted suppliers who agree to sell their products under dollar store labels. In some cases those products may even be rebranded from other places: pharmacy company Perrigo, for example, sells generic Flonase under both the Aldi Welby label and the Dollar General DG Health label.

On the other hand, most dollar stores also sell at least some name brands, and in the case of Dollar General and Family Dollar name brands make up a fair amount of the store inventory. So how can you tell the difference between what’s a name brand and what’s a private label?

One clue comes from the distributor. If you look at the back of the packaging, chances are you’ll find some fine print specifying who distributes the product. That can offer a big clue to whether or not the dollar store contracts the product or if it is a name brand separate from the dollar store.

Here are some of the big ones.

Dolgencorp, LLC

Dolgencorp, based out of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, is a subsidiary of the Dollar General Corporation.  According to various sources online, Dolgencorp was created in 1973. Dollar General is a publicly traded company.

If you see any product in Dollar General that lists Dolgencorp in the back, it’s a private label or house brand product. That means it’s exclusive to Dollar General. Examples would include Clover Valley, Mission Ridge, and True Living. Dollar General contracts with companies to source and produce these products under their respective brands.

I’ve also noticed that some Dollar General products are distributed by Old East Main Co., which is an alternate name for a Dollar General distributor. Some of the Dollar General exclusive products are labeled with Old East Main Co. instead of Dolgencorp. I’m not sure if there’s much of a difference between the two.

Not coincidentally, both Dolgencorp and Old East Main Co. are both based out of the same address: 100 Mission Ridge, Goodlettsville, TN 37072.

Greenbrier International, Inc.

Greenbrier International, Inc., located in Chesapeake, Virginia, is the name of the company that operates Dollar Tree stores. The exact address is: 500 Volvo Parkway, Chesapeake, VA 23320.

If you look at most products inside of Dollar Tree, there’s an excellent chance you’ll see this name and address somewhere on the packaging. Occasionally, we’ve even seen it printed on certain DT exclusive products, including toys. Greenbrier sells a lot of products that don’t have any brand name at all, but it also distributes all of the DT house brands, like Home Style Select.

Midwood Brands, LLC

Midwood Brands is an alternate name for Family Dollar. Any product in Family Dollar that lists Midwood Brands is a Family Dollar exclusive. Family Dollar is now under the ownership of Dollar Tree, so technically Dollar Tree owns Midwood Brands.

I’ve never seen Midwood Brands products in a Dollar Tree, but Midwood Brands does have the same address as Dollar Tree’s Greenbrier International: 500 Volvo Parkway, Chesapeake, VA 23320. Midwood Brands distributes Family Dollar private labels like Chestnut Hill.