WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Discount retail chain Dollar Tree, Inc. said it is
planning to close around 970 underperforming stores of its unit Family Dollar
Stores LLC as part of its comprehensive store portfolio optimization review. The
planned store closures also include around 30 Dollar Tree stores.

According to Rick Dreiling, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the decisive
steps will strengthen the Family Dollar brand and better position it to achieve
its full potential.

Meanwhile, the company said it is placing a greater emphasis on opening more
Dollar Trees than historically done in the past due to the returns and
performance, and the vast majority of new store openings in fiscal 2024 will be
Dollar Trees.

While reporting a hefty net loss in its fourth quarter compared to a last year
profit, despite revenue growth, the company said the store closure decision was
taken based on an evaluation of current market conditions and individual store
performance, among other factors. The latest quarter results were hit by, among
other things, $594.4 million of charges in connection with the store portfolio
review.

The company plans to close around 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of
fiscal 2024. In addition, over the next several years, around 370 Family Dollar
and 30 Dollar Tree stores will close at the end of each store's current lease
term.

Collectively, the company estimates that net sales loss from the stores that are
intended to be closed this year is approximately 730 million on an annual run
rate basis.

Dollar Tree's comprehensive store portfolio optimization review involved
identifying stores for closure, relocation, or re-bannering.

During the company's fourth-quarter earnings call, Dreiling said, 'We took a
thoughtful and deliberate approach to address underperforming stores by
considering each individual store's performance, local operating environment,
and our broader need for scale and operating efficiencies across the
portfolio.... We believe rationalizing these unprofitable locations will help to
unlock meaningful value at the enterprise level.'

Further, in real estate, the company opened 641 new stores in 2023, which was at
the high end of target of 600 to 650. Selling square footage increased 3.6
percent, which was ahead of target.

According to Dreiling, sales per square foot, transactions, and units are among
the most important benchmarks in retail, and the company is seeing growth across
all three, and momentum is building across the business.

As of February 3, Dollar Tree operated 16,774 stores under the brands of Dollar
Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada.

In late February, Family Dollar was fined $41.675 million by the U.S. Department
of Justice after pleading guilty to holding consumer products including food and
drugs in rodent-infested warehouse in West Memphis, Arkansas. It was the
largest-ever monetary criminal penalty in a food safety case, the DOJ then
noted.

Family Dollar in February 2022 had recalled all drugs, medical devices,
cosmetics, and human and animal food products sold since January 1, 2021 in the
404 stores that had been serviced by the warehouse.



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