Company Snapshot: Family Dollar – Jan 2014

Even After Historic Growth, Family Dollar Loses Its Bloom

Address:
10401 Monroe Rd.
Matthews, NC, 28105

Telephone:
704 847-6961

Year Founded:
1959

Total Stores:
8,041

Total Annual Sales:
$ 10,391,457,000

Senior Executives:
Howard R. Levine- Chairman of the Board, CEO

Until recently the Senior Executive list above had included corporate number two, now former President and COO, Michael Bloom.  It had been expected that Bloom was being groomed to succeed Howard Levine on his eventual retirement.  This succession was seen as no small event as Levine is the son of company founder and visionary Leon Levine.

After years of increasingly aggressive growth, despite and in some ways due to the recession, recent profits and customer traffic numbers have proven disappointing.  Meanwhile arch competitor Dollar General’s profits have jumped by double digits.

After Mr. Bloom’s departure, Howard Levine was quite clear that the two company leaders had a strong difference of opinion on the direction the company’s merchandising efforts should take.  Perhaps the proud Levine wants to be certain that the successor to his father’s throne needs to be time tested as a corporate and family fit and that the company’s performance under the Bloom stewardship was less than totally exemplary.

2013 was a historic year for Family Dollar.  Here the company announced its first fiscal year of annual sales topping $10 billion.  Then the company’s store count grew to exceed 8,000.  The next corporate number two will entertain a challenge nearing perfection.