We visited Family Dollar, the store that analysts say is becoming Dollar Tree's biggest problem. Here's what we found. (DLTR)

• Dollar Tree announced Wednesday that it is closing as many as 390 Family Dollar stores in 2019. This follows 85 closings during the fourth quarter of 2018.
• Analysts say Family Dollar has been a drag on Dollar Tree's earnings and"remains the weaker part of the business."
• In its most recent quarterly results, reported on Wednesday, same-store sales at Dollar Tree were up 3.2%. Family Dollar saw a more modest increase of 1.4%.
• We visited one of its stores to find out what it is like to shop there.

It has been three years since Dollar Tree bought Family Dollar, and so far, it's been a disappointing run. 

The discount chain, which has over 8,000 stores in the United States (Dollar Tree has 6,776 in the US) has pulled down its parent company's earnings. In its most recent quarterly results, Dollar Tree’s same-store sales grew by 3.2% during the quarter while Family Dollar’s were up by a more modest 1.4%.

Dollar Tree is now taking decisive action to manage this. On Wednesday, during earnings, it announced that it would close as many as 390 Family Dollar stores in fiscal 2019. This follows the closing of 85 store at the chain during the fourth quarter of 2018.

It is "clear that Family Dollar is underperforming, both as a division and within the wider market," Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail, wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. 

He continued: "The continued problems at the Family Dollar division have resulted in an impairment of its brand value to the tune of $2.73 billion. Such a deterioration undermines some of the economics on which the acquisition and integration of Family Dollar were based."

Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar in 2015, after undergoing a bidding war with Dollar General, its main US rival. Dollar Tree and Dollar General are almost neck-and-neck in terms of store count and annual sales. 

The bidding war may have distracted Dollar Tree and led them to "gloss over some of the glaring problems at [Family Dollar]," Credit Suisse analysts wrote in June. 

"Family Dollar clearly preferred Dollar Tree as the acquirer (since the Family Dollar name was more likely to survive), and Dollar Tree likely wanted to prevent Dollar General from nearly doubling its size overnight," the analysts wrote.

In August, we decided to check out what it was like to shop at Family Dollar. Here's what we saw:

SEE ALSO: We shopped at Dollar Tree and Dollar General to see which offered a better experience, and the winner was obvious

The Family Dollar store we visited was located in Brooklyn, New York. On average, its stores are around 7,000 square feet in size.

At the entrance of the store was a selection of seasonal products. This tactic is also used by its sister store, Dollar Tree, to grab the attention of the shopper and make sure items with a shorter shelf life don't go unnoticed.

The layout of the store and assortment felt a lot more similar to a Dollar General store than a Dollar Tree.

In fact, Credit Suisse analysts say it would likely have made more sense for Dollar General to acquire Family Dollar. The offering is more in line, and there is a limited overlap in terms of where stores are located.

Family Dollar stores are generally found in urban areas while Dollar General stores are typically located in rural places.