Dollar Tree

The 127-year old family owned Belk department store chain is family owned no more, although one of the founder’s descendants remains in place as CEO.

The private equity firm Sycamore Partners completed its previously announced acquisition of the 296 unit Belk chain on Dec. 10, thus beginning a new chapter for what had been the nation’s oldest privately held department store retailer.

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. -- Kimco Realty Corp. announced that it purchased Christown Spectrum power center in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona for $115.3 million. The property is an 850,000 sq. ft. center situated one mile east of Interstate 17 and lies adjacent to the second-busiest light rail station in Phoenix.

Dollar Tree’s third quarter results weren’t as strong as the prior year, but all is well with the integration of Family Dollar and CEO Bob Sasser contends the combined company is well-positioned for the holidays.

Total sales increased 136% to $4.95 billion during the quarter ended Oct. 31, from $2.1 billion in the prior year’s third quarter. The surge in sales reflects the first full quarter in which sales from Family Dollar stores are included in results. Dollar Tree completed its acquisition of Family Dollar on July 6 creating a retailer with 13,600 stores.

A private equity group better known for investing in established companies is creating a new dollar store brand after acquiring 330 Family Dollar stores from Dollar Tree.

Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar earlier this year and to satisfy federal regulators, the company agreed to divest 330 Family Dollar stores. The acquiring company is a newly created portfolio company of the private equity firm Sycamore Partners called Dollar Express.

The Deals stores Dollar Tree acquired nearly a decade ago never turned into a meaningful growth vehicle for the company and soon the banner will disappear.

Dollar Tree said of the 222 Deals stores it operates, 217 will be converted to Dollar Tree stores and five others will become Family Dollar stores. Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar earlier this year giving it a network of nearly 14,000 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The acquisition of Family Dollar in the second quarter led Dollar Tree Inc. to report quarterly sales that were up more than 48% from a year ago.

For the second quarter ended Aug. 1, Dollar Tree reported sales of $3.01 billion, boosted by $811.6 million in sales from Family Dollar. Same store sales rose 2.7%. Dollar Tree reported income of $138.9 million. The retailer’s earnings were 67 cents.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree swung to a loss in its second quarter on higher integration costs related to its acquisition of a formal rival. But its revenue skyrocketed as a result of the merger.

On July 6, Dollar Tree completed its $9 billion acquisition of Family Dollar Inc.

Dollar Tree Inc. has promoted one of its senior executives to be its next chief operating officer.

The company announced that Michael Witynski has been named COO and be responsible for store operations of Dollar Tree bannered stores in the United States, real estate for Dollar Tree bannered stores in the U.S. and all retail operations and real estate in Canada.