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Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. (DLTR) |
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CEOCFO Current
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Dollar
Tree Stores, the nation’s leading $1.00 discount variety store chain, has the people,
infrastructure and cash in place for continued profitable growth Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. (NASD: DLTR) is the nation's
leading operator of discount variety stores offering merchandise at the $1.00 price point.
The Company’s Dollar Tree stores are designed to be the modern day equivalent of the
traditional variety store. Dollar Tree offers a wide range of quality everyday general
merchandise in many categories, including housewares, seasonal goods, candy and food,
toys, health and beauty care, gifts, party goods, stationery, books, personal accessories,
and other consumer items. Stores operate under the names of Dollar Tree®, Dollar Bill$®,
Only $1.00, ONLY $ONE®, Dollar Express and Greenbacks. “We
spend money on our stores; many of our stores have carpeting, and we spend money on
lighting, our storefronts are open with glass and new fixtures,” comments Mr. Bob Sasser, President and COO of Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., as
to what sets them apart from the competition. “When we
make an investment, we buy good quality. We really do care about the cleanliness,
orderliness and excitement of our stores as well as the color scheme and the flow of the
products. Our standards are high compared with low cost operators who put less of an
emphasis on these things and serve the lower income population. The main reasons why
people come to us are because of our value, our friendliness, convenience, ease of
shopping, and because we exceed their expectations.” Mr. Sasser tells us
about the new, larger stores, “Every year the dollar store is
getting bigger and some of it has to do with the availability of products improving and
expanding. Some of it is the need and desire to better serve the customers. The stores
that we are now opening are about 9,000 selling square feet, and we have some larger than
that. Our customers like the larger stores and it gives us an opportunity to offer a
broader selection of products that appeals to a larger clientele. Our customers like
it, and they buy more and stay longer. We are always following their desires and we intend
to keep doing that.” With some many stores and so much merchandise logistics
plays a big part in Dollar Trees’ success. “We have
a big logistics process,” Mr. Sasser explains. “When
you are selling a lot of items for a dollar, and when you are doing two-and-a-half billion
dollars and more in sales, that is a lot of units, so our logistics network has to be very
efficient and very reliable as well as cost-effective. We have a distribution network that
is mostly automated. The way it works is as follows: After the product comes
in and is scanned, the store order allocations are downloaded and matched up with the
receipt. Then the product goes onto a conveyer belt and slides untouched through the
distribution center until it ends up on the truck going to that store. We have a 400,000
square foot facility in Chesapeake, Virginia. The version that we are building today is
600,000 square feet in Briar Creek, Pennsylvania and Savannah, Georgia, and we have
another one in that size range in Stockton, California. We have just announced that we are
building a new distribution center in Washington state, as well as replacing our small
manual distribution center in the Chicago area with the largest one in our fleet, which
will be in Joliet Illinois; it will be about 1.2 million square feet because we have a
high density of stores in the center of the country and a huge opportunity to increase the
number of stores in that region.” Addressing potential investors, Mr.Sasser states, “We have a concept
that people like, and we have the people, infrastructure and cash in place to continue to
demonstrate consistent profitable growth. Further, there is room to grow; we have less
than 2,500 stores now, and there is room for five to seven thousand more stores. That
growth makes us attractive to investors.” Dollar Tree Stores, Inc.
operates over 2,400 stores in both strip centers and malls in 47 states. During the first
fiscal quarter of 2003, the Company opened 55 stores, closed 8 stores and expanded or
relocated 30 stores. At May 3, 2003, the Company's retail selling square footage totaled
approximately 13.9 million, a 4.9% increase from February 1, 2003 and a 27.5% increase
compared to a year ago. |
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