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CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree Inc. announced plans to accelerate its capital-spending plans following a strong financial performance during the second half of the fiscal year ended January 28.
“We are committed to driving further store productivity as we focus on developing our people, tools and technology to fuel our accelerated growth, while simplifying our operations, improving our supply chain and innovating our merchandising strategy to better support our associates and to better serve our shoppers,” Rick Dreiling, chairman and chief executive officer, said March 1 in announcing fourth quarter and fiscal 2022 earnings. “Our sales performance shows that our third quarter sales momentum continued into the fourth quarter. The same-store sales growth of 8.7% at Dollar Tree and 5.8% at Family Dollar represented comp sales accelerations on a one-, two- and three-year stacked basis, and are evidence that the early transformation actions taken since last summer are beginning to have a positive impact.”
The company reported fourth quarter diluted earnings per share of $2.04. For fiscal 2023, it projects per-share earnings of between $6.30 and $6.80. Executives were also projecting same-store sales at its Dollar Tree banner to increase in the low single digits this year; comps at its Family Dollar banner are projected to increase in the mid-single digits.
Retail square footage increased 2.5% last year. The company opened 464 new stores and closed 205 stores. Another 120 stores were relocated. Nearly 800 Family Dollar stores were renovated last year.
At the close of fiscal 2022, Dollar Tree operated 16,340 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces.
Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Canada.
Just as fiscal 2022 was coming to a close, Dollar Tree announced that Dreiling was succeeding Mike Witynski as CEO. Dreiling, the former chief at Dollar General Corp., was brought in last March as executive chairman, part of a shakeup of the board of directors initiated by Mantle Ridge LP, which had taken a position that made the private equity firm one of Dollar Tree’s largest shareholders.
Beyond the board shake-up, Dollar Tree has made several executive hires as it seeks to overhaul its leadership team. Added last fall were Michael Creedon Jr., as chief operating officer, and Pedro Voyer, who assumed the role of chief development officer.
“We are on an accelerating journey of change,” Dreiling said. “We have undergone a significant amount of change in less than one year, and believe we have the team in place to capture the opportunity ahead of us. We are confident that the accelerated investments outlined will transform our company, will enable and propel us through years of accelerated growth and margin improvement, and enhance the company’s ability to achieve substantially higher long-term earnings power.”
