Family Dollar

MATTHEWS, N.C. — One consequence of the government shutdown may be the erosion of consumer confidence among the poor, noted dollar store operator Howard Levine, executive chairman and CEO of Family Dollar, in a conference call with analysts last week. "The way I think about these kind of things is it's just not a help to consumer confidence," he said. "The threat of the shutdown, the uncertainty regarding some of the government assistance that our consumers impact, the uncertainty around job growth are very real to our customer everyday."

LANCASTER, S.C. — Family Dollar last week opened its 8,000th store here, the company announced.

"Lancaster is  proud to have been selected as the site of Family Dollar's 8,000th store," stated Joe Shaw, Lancaster's mayor. "We look forward to partnering with Family Dollar to meet the retail needs of our citizens."

"We have over 200 stores in South Carolina, so it certainly is a great fit for us to open this landmark store in the state," commented Howard Levine, Family Dollar chairman and CEO. 

It's been the week of the dollar store. Dollar General opened store No. 11,000 last week, and Family Dollar continues to reinvent its brand relevance with the consumer as the company posted monster gains for its fiscal fourth quarter and the year, driven by store experimentation, remodels and the introduction 1,000 SKUs, including many health and beauty items. 

CHICAGO — In order to win in today’s shopper environment, retailers and suppliers need to approach marketing programs in a whole different way — together. It all comes down to two key words: shared media.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — More than 1,000 new and relocated stores and an increase in a partnership with supply chain services firm McLane Co. were among the highlights in fourth quarter fiscal year 2013 at Family Dollar, the discount store chain said Wednesday.

NEW YORK — American Express Serve announced a free nationwide cash load network and the addition of new money management capabilities to its full-service reloadable prepaid account. The new features enable Serve customers to load cash for free at more than 14,000 participating CVS/pharmacy and 7-Eleven stores. According to reports, the number of stores will grow by the end of 2013 to about 20,000, with the addition of Family Dollar, Office Depot, Walgreens and Duane Reade stores.

CHICAGO — There’s a new way to think outside of the box — by placing both the retailer and supplier in the same marketing sandbox in an effort to generate collaborative marketing campaigns. In other words, “Shared Media.”

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores on Thursday reported a net sales increase of 17.7% to $2.9 billion for the second quarter ended March 2. Comparable stores were up 2.9%.

An extra week in the quarter contributed approximately $189 million in sales. Strong growth in tobacco, food and HBA contributed to a 26.6% lift across consumables, the dollar operator reported.