Family Dollar 2005 Annual Report Download - page 6

The Cooler Initiative
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Milk. Eggs. Bread. These are the basics of every
family’s pantry and are replenished more often than
any o ther food items. They are the core of o ur
expanded food strategy. While many o f o ur
Customers make larger stock-up trips to refill their
pantries, they also fit in more than 40 trips a year to
pick up a gallon of milk or to buy more snacks fo r
their children’s lunches. We have expanded our foo d
assortment to provide Custo mers with more
neighborhood convenience and value fo r these
frequent fill-in trips.
Low and lower-middle inco me co nsumers spend a
significant portion o f their limited budgets on food.
While Family Dollar do esn’t intend to be a full-service
gro cery sto re, we will satisfy the fill-in foo d trip needs
of our Customers by offering a variety of ready-to-eat
and quick preparation foods for breakfast, lunch,
dinner and snack time. With limited budgets and
cabinet space, busy mo ms like Gloria, who need to
pick up milk and cereal for breakfast o r bread and
sandwich meat for lunch, know they can count on us
for value and co nvenience.
As a result of enthusiastic and immediate Customer
response expressed through increased traffic and
sales, we accelerated our refrigerated cooler program
and installed co olers in about 1,000 of our stores in
2005. While some of the sales increases are a direct
result of sales of new coo ler items, we have leveraged
the additio nal traffic to increase sales in o ther
departments, resulting in larger Customer purchases
that include both perishable foo d and other items.
In 2006, we will install refrigerated coolers in
appro ximately 2,500 additional stores, and by the
end o f o ur fiscal year, we will have coolers in mo re
than half o ur chain. Ultimately, we expect to install
refrigerated coo lers in almo st all of o ur stores.
Offering everyday food necessities will keep our
Customers co ming back to Family Dollar day in and
day out.