Family Dollar

Dollar Tree has appointed Duncan Mac Naughton as president and COO of its Family Dollar subsidiary.   Mac Naughton, 54, most recently served as CEO of Mills Fleet Farm. He has held numerous leadership roles at Wal-Mart Stores, including chief merchandising and marketing officer of Wal-Mart U.S. from 2011 to 2014, executive VP of consumables health and wellness and Walmart.com from 2010 to 2011, and chief merchandising officer of Wal-Mart Canada from 2009 to 2010.  

It’s a draw.   Dollar General and Walmart tied for the least expensive overall basket, at $27 each, in Kantar Retail's Opening Price Point Study, which seeks to determine how select retailers meet the grocery and consumable needs of shoppers looking for the lowest absolute shelf prices.     

When it comes to customer satisfaction surveys, a convenience store is at the top of the class.    That’s according to a study by Interaction Metrics which finds that retailers are wasting customers’ time — and their own — by conducting critically flawed satisfaction surveys.  

Dollar Tree on Tuesday reported a third-quarter profit that more than doubled compared to last year amid lower merchandise and freight costs. The retailer also lifted its guidance for the fourth quarter.    Dollar Tree’s net income for the quarter, ended Oct. 29, rose to a better-than-expected $171.6 million, or 72 cents a share, up from $81.9 million, or 35 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The prior year included some charges and markdowns related to the Family Dollar business, which Dollar Tree acquired in 2015.

Photo: Michael K. Bloom   Fred’s announced it has promoted COO Michael K. Bloom to chief executive, effective Aug. 29.      Bloom succeeds CEO Jerry A. Shore, who became chief executive in October 2014 and intends to retire in February.   

A little over one year since it acquired rival Family Dollar, Dollar Tree reported revenue that missed Wall Street expectations amid lower customer traffic.     Dollar Tree and other discounters are also feeling the impact of a recent change by some states regarding the criteria for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which has made thousands of households ineligible for benefits.      

Dollar Tree will eliminate some 370 positions as part of a corporate restructuring related to its acquisition of Family Dollar last year.   The cuts, which include 100 vacant positions at its Family Dollar store support center in Matthews, North Carolina, are part of the chain’s ongoing efforts to integrate its support functions through a shared services model.  

The nation’s top two extreme-value discounters aren’t feeling the retail malaise that affected department stores and many specialty retailers in the first quarter.