Family Dollar

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. is not sitting back while rivals Family Dollar and Dollar Tree prepare to merge. Following its failed bid to acquire Family Dollar, Dollar General has accelerated its expansion plans for 2015. The discounter, which already has the retail industry’s most aggressive new store strategy said it will open 730 new stores and remodel 875 existing locations in 2015, translating into a 6% increase in total square footage. And looking ahead, Dollar General plans to grow its square footage by 7% in 2016.

The addition of 700 new stores last year and a 4.9% increase in fourth quarter same store sales helped Dollar General achieve record results and has the company looking to capitalize on the momentum by accelerating what is already the retail industry’s most aggressive new store expansion plan.

Dollar General chairman and CEO Rick Dreilling said the company will add to its 2014 year end store total of 11,789 units in 2015 by opening 730 new stores and remodeling 875 others.

Who needs Family Dollar? After a failed bid to acquire its smaller rival, Dollar General is on the move and extending its presence to three new states.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General isn’t letting its failed bid for rival Family Dollar slow its momentum. On Saturday, Dollar General announced it is entering three new states: Oregon, Maine and Rhode Island. The expansion will give it stores in a total of 43 states nationwide.

Dollar General already operates more than 11,700 stores, but entry into the three new states gives it more greenfield expansion opportunities to pursue while Dollar Tree is busy integrating the recently acquired Family Dollar chain.

Charlotte, N.C. - Family Dollar Inc. is overhauling its store network. The retailer has selected Interface Security Systems Holdings Inc. as its IP managed service provider across its entire retail platform.

Family Dollar recently completed a major initiative to modernize and refresh critical technology in each of its stores. The technology makeover, or Flat Rate Managed Service Project, was launched in collaboration with Interface in July 2014 and is scheduled for completion by May 2015.

Matthews, N.C. – Howard Levine, CEO of Family Dollar Stores Inc., intends to reduce his holdings of company stock for the second time in a month. In an SEC filing, Levine said he will sell up to two million shares of Family Dollar stock in an effort to diversify his portfolio.

In February 2015, Levine sold about 1.77 million shares of Family Dollar stock for $134.5 million. Family Dollar is in the process of being acquired by Dollar Tree Inc.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree reported that its net income dropped 13% to $206.6 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, down from $239 million in the year ago period. The quarter included $6.7 million in acquisition-related costs associated with the pending merger with Family Dollar Stores Inc.

As Dollar Tree prepares to absorb the costs associated with its pending acquisition of Family Dollar, the discounter beat Wall Street estimates of earnings for the fourth quarter.

Dollar Tree said net revenue improved 11% to $2.48 billion. Analysts had projected $1.15 a share in earnings and revenue of $2.47 billion. Dollar Tree said same-store sales rose 5.6% in the quarter and that the number of transactions rose 5%. For the period ended Jan. 31, Dollar Tree posted a profit of $206.6 million, or $1 a share, down from $213 million, or $1.02 a share, a year earlier.