Family Dollar Stores Inc. will be closing its headquarters in Matthews, North Carolina, and laying off 900 employees in the area, according to a Tuesday statement by the Matthews Chamber of Commerce.

The discount variety store’s support center will be consolidated with the newly-completed Dollar Tree Inc. office tower in Chesapeake, Virginia, according to a Dollar Tree press release. That move is part of Dollar Tree’s “continuing integration of Family Dollar’s organization and support functions.”

In July 2015, Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar in a deal the company said would expand its operating stores and combine two similar business models.

“The Matthews Chamber is saddened to hear of the closing of Family Dollar Corporate headquarters in Matthews,” said Kelly Barnhardt, executive director of the Matthews Chamber of Commerce. “The main focus of many in our area should be on how we can keep these 900 workers employed here locally now.”

The Dollar Tree release stated that 700 affected Family Dollar employees have been offered the opportunity for relocation to the Chesapeake facility, and that all affected employees will be offered job transition benefits and services.

The company expects the process of consolidating the two support centers to be completed Fall 2019, according to the press release.

“Our new 12-story, 510,000 square foot office tower represents the anchor of a dynamic campus environment serving the needs of our associates,” said Bob Sasser, Dollar Tree’s executive chairman, in the press release.

Barnhardt asked for collaboration between local human resource directors, Mecklenberg County’s economic development group, the town of Matthews, Central Piedmont Community College and the chamber to help the area’s now-displaced workers.

Family Dollar had not released a statement saying when it would begin laying off employees as of Tuesday at midday.

The company had not a filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice with the N.C. Chamber of Commerce as of Tuesday at midday. These notices are required by companies 60 days in advance of a mass layoff.

A layoff of 900 Family Dollar workers in Matthews would be the largest mass layoff in North Carolina this year, according to the state’s 2018 WARN report. At this point, the year’s largest layoff came in late August, when Heritage Home Group L.L.C. announced a layoff of 712 employees at two facilities in Lenoir, North Carolina.