Family Dollar Adds to Consumables Offering

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores here said Wednesday it plans to continue to increase the assortment of consumables at its stores to drive sales.

“We’re going where our customer wants us to go,” Michael K. Bloom, president and chief operating officer, told analysts during a financial conference call. “She’s voted, and it’s clear as day to the organization that this is the mix she wants in our stores.”

Consumables — which accounted for 64.6% of the company’s sales mix in the second quarter, according to Kenneth T. Smith, senior vice president and chief financial officer — experienced sales growth of about 10% during the 12-week second quarter, Bloom noted. He said Family Dollar has expanded its SKU count over the last 18 months by 20% in food and by about 25% in health and beauty care.

During the second half of fiscal 2012, “we expect to add more than 1,000 new consumable SKUs to our assortment,” Howard R. Levine, chairman and chief executive officer, pointed out.

For the second quarter, which ended Feb. 25, Family Dollar said net income rose 10.7% to $136.4 million, while sales increased 8.6% to $2.5 billion and comparable-store sales were up 4.5%, driven primarily by customer traffic and a slight increase in average transaction value, the company noted. For the first half net income climbed 9.8% to $216.8 million, while sales were up 8.1% to $2.6 billion.