Dollar Goes A Long Way

Family Dollar Stores (Matthews, N.C.), the discount retailer that has been thriving as the economy has been flattening, reported that it opened 47 new stores during the four-week period ended Dec. 1, 2001. The company now operates 4237 stores in 39 states, ranging as far northwest as South Dakota, northeast to Maine, southeast to Florida and southwest to Arizona. .

The 47 newest store locations are in the following states: five each in Louisiana and Michigan; four in Ohio; three each in Florida, Georgia, New York and Texas; two each in Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; and one each in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

In early September, the discount store chain announced that it had opened 50 new stores during the four-week period ending Sept. 1, 2001. In early November, it reported opening 40 new stores during the four-week period ended Nov. 3, 2001.

Family Dollar targets women shopping for a family that makes less than $25,000 a year, offering discounted prices for clothing, food, health and beauty supplies, automotive supplies, housewares and school supplies. The chain emphasizes small neighborhood stores near its low- and middle-income customers in rural and urban areas. Most merchandise (national brands, private labels and unbranded items) is priced under $10.