Family Dollar

Family Dollar Stores Inc. (Matthews, N.C.) reported that net sales for the four weeks ended July 30, 2005, increased 5.7 percent. Same-store sales decreased 1.6 percent. As of July 30, there were 5797 stores in operation, including 57 stores that were opened in fiscal July 2005.

Quarter-to-date, sales are up 7.4 percent and same-store sales have gained 0.1 percent. Year-to-date, sales are up 10.4 percent and same-store sales are up 2.3 percent.

“In the first and second quarters, our consumable division, which represents more than half of our sales, consistently reported mid-single digit comparable store sales increases,” said chairman and ceo Howard Levine. “In March, we made some changes in our consumable area in an effort to improve our markup in these key categories. Our customers have not responded as favorably as we had expected, and as a result, July consumable sales were approximately flat in comparable stores. We have reviewed our assortment, and we are now replacing weaker items with stronger, sales-driving brands. These schematic corrections should be completed in stores by the end of August.

“While we are disappointed with recent results, we continue to believe that investments in our key initiatives will position Family Dollar for future profitable growth,” continued Levine. “We are encouraged by the results of our cooler initiative. In July, consumable sales in comparable stores with coolers increased approximately 7 percent, reflecting strong customer response to this initiative. During the next year, we plan to install coolers in 2500 additional stores.”