Family Dollar, Dollar Tree closing 1K stores

(CNN)– Family Dollar and Dollar Tree are set to close nearly one thousand stores.

Family Dollar will close 600 stores in the first half of this year and at least 370 more over the next several years as store leases expire.

Parent company Dollar Tree said it will close 30 stores as the company’s leases will also expire.

Many Family Dollar stores have been plagued by heath and safety concerns.

This year the struggling discount chain was hit with a record 41 and a half million dollar fine for violating product safety standards.

The U.S. Justice Department said the chain was selling items that were stocked in a rat infested warehouse.