Founder of Family Dollar, Leon Levine, dies at 85

Founder of Family Dollar, Leon Levine, dies at 85: Philanthropist who started discount store chain at age 22 with £6,000 investment used his £800 million wealth to fund scholarships in North Carolina

• Leon Levine opened the first Family Dollar Store in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1959 
• The conservatively priced home goods store rapidly expanded in 8,000 locations across the country 
• Following his incredible success, Levine became a notably charitable Fortune 400 founder, donating hundreds of millions to organizations across his state 

By Sophie Mann For Dailymail.Com

Published: 15:09, 6 April 2023 | Updated: 15:31, 6 April 2023

Family Dollar founder and noted North Carolina philanthropist Leon Levine died Wednesday aged 85.

He had long used his considerable wealth to fund charitable endeavors around his home state.

At the age of 22, Levine harnessed a £6,000 investment and opened the first ever Family Dollar Store on Central Avenue in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Levine made the risky business decision that everything in his store would sell for under £2, from cleaning supplies to clothing.

The discount shop would eventually expand into a Fortune 400 company with 8,000 locations across the country, and become known as a shopping hub for Americans with limited cash to burn on necessities.

Leon Levine died aged 85 on Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

He founded the Dollar Family Store empire and is pictured here alongside his wife of many years Sandra Poliakoff

The first Family Dollar store opened in 1959 on Central Avenue in Charlotte, North Carolina

Levine said that in his early days, he would check parking lots for fresh oil stains to select locations for stores. Oil stains indicated that community members were driving old, leaking cars. 

In his home state, Levine and his second wife, Sandra Poliakoff, established the Leon Levine Foundation in 1980, which has grown into one of the largest foundations of its kind in the Southeast.

The foundation focuses on supporting programs that invest in education, health care, human services and Judaism.

The foundation has used the Levine family’s £800million fortune to establish a series of scholarships, including at UNC Charlotte. Levine himself never finished college.

Levine’s name is plastered on buildings across his beloved state, from the Levine Museum of the New South to the Levine Cancer Institute. 

The foundation says it has awarded more than £450million in grants, not including gifts by Levine and his wife.

Over the years, the foundation, management of which Levine considered his second career, donated millions to a Critical Need Response Fund, which distributed £7.6million to those in need as the 2008 recession raged on.

In memory of Levine’s first wife, Barbara Levine, who died in 1966 of breast cancer, the foundation donated £1.1million in 2002 for an endowment fund to advance breast cancer genomics research.

It also awarded £7.4million to UNC Charlotte to establish the Levine Scholars Program.

At the time, it was the largest individual academic gift the university had ever received. In 2014, the Levines added £12.9million to extend the program.

Sharon Gaber, the chancellor for UNC Charlotte, said following his passing: ‘Leon Levine and his wife, Sandra, have been stalwart supporters of UNC Charlotte.’

‘Through their generosity, hundreds of Levine Scholars have had the opportunity to pursue excellence in the classroom, while giving back to the community around them. UNC Charlotte sends its deepest condolences to Sandra Levine and the entire Levine family as we mourn the passing of a man who helped transform education at our University and has improved the lives of countless Charlotteans.’ 

At the age of 22, Levine took a £6,000 investment and opened the first Dollar Family Store after visiting Tennessee and seeing a chain of stores that sold everything for £1 or less

In his early days as a businessman, Levine would check local parking lots to see if there were fresh oil leaks in the parking lots, indicating old cars. If there were, he knew he’d found a good location for a store

Leon and Sandra Levine open the Levine Museum of the New South

Over the years, the Levine foundation has donated tens of millions of dollars to academic institutions across the state, including UNC Charlotte, where the Levine scholars are funded by the generosity of the family

Levine was born in 1937 in Wadesboro, North Carolina, his family managed a department store

In 2009, Levine told the Charlotte Observer that it was not at his insistence that his family name go on all the buildings and institutions to which he donated millions.

‘We’re not on an ego trip,’ he said. ‘These people want our name up there because it helps them raise more money.’

In 2003, Levine retired as Chairman and CEO of the business he built from the ground up, allowing his son to become the leader of the family business. 

In 2015, Dollar Tree bought Family Dollar for £8.5billion.

Several months later, Howard Levine – Leon’s son – stepped down as CEO of the company, ending close to half a century of family ties to the company. 

Levine married his first wife, Barbara Levine in 1958, with whom he had three children, one of whom, Mindy, committed suicide in 1988.

After Barbara died of breast cancer in 1966, he remarried a dozen years later to an old friend of Barbara’s with whom he reconnected. 

Levine and Sandra Poliakoff had one daughter together – Amy – and remained married until the time of Levine’s passing this week.

The couple had 10 grand children.