Dollar Tree 2009 Annual Report Download - page 16

Management’s Discussion And Analysis Of Financial Condition
And Results Of Operations
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND
ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
In฀Management’s฀Discussion฀and฀Analysis,฀we฀explain฀
the฀general฀nancial฀condition฀and฀the฀results฀of฀opera-
tions for our company, including:
•฀฀what฀factors฀affect฀our฀business;
•฀฀what฀our฀net฀sales,฀earnings,฀gross฀margins฀and฀
costs฀were฀in฀2009,฀2008฀and฀2007;
•฀฀why฀those฀net฀sales,฀earnings,฀gross฀margins฀and฀
costs were different from the year before;
•฀฀how฀all฀of฀this฀affects฀our฀overall฀nancial฀
condition;
•฀฀what฀our฀expenditures฀for฀capital฀projects฀were฀in฀
2009฀and฀2008฀and฀what฀we฀expect฀them฀to฀be฀in฀
2010;฀and
•฀฀where฀funds฀will฀come฀from฀to฀pay฀for฀future฀
expenditures.
As฀you฀read฀Management’s฀Discussion฀and฀Analysis,฀
please฀refer฀to฀our฀consolidated฀nancial฀statements,฀
included in this Annual Report, which present the
results฀of฀operations฀for฀the฀scal฀years฀ended฀January฀
30,฀2010,฀January฀31,฀2009฀and฀February฀2,฀2008.฀In฀
Management’s฀Discussion฀and฀Analysis,฀we฀analyze฀and฀
explain฀the฀annual฀changes฀in฀some฀specic฀line฀items฀
in฀the฀consolidated฀nancial฀statements฀for฀the฀scal฀
year฀2009฀compared฀to฀the฀comparable฀scal฀year฀2008฀
and฀the฀scal฀year฀2008฀compared฀to฀the฀comparable฀
scal฀year฀2007.
Key Events and Recent Developments
Several key events have had or are expected to have a
signicant฀effect฀on฀our฀operations.฀You฀should฀keep฀in฀
mind that:
•฀฀We฀assign฀cost฀to฀store฀inventories฀using฀the฀retail฀
inventory method, determined on a weighted
average฀cost฀basis.฀Since฀inception฀through฀scal฀
2009,฀we฀have฀used฀one฀inventory฀pool฀for฀this฀
calculation. Over the years, we have invested in our
retail technology systems, which has allowed us
to฀rene฀our฀estimate฀of฀inventory฀cost฀under฀the฀
retail฀method.฀On฀January,฀31,฀2010,฀the฀rst฀day฀of฀
scal฀2010,฀we฀will฀use฀approximately฀30฀inventory฀
pools in our retail inventory calculation. As a result
Our forward-looking statements could be wrong
in light of these and other risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. The future events, developments or results
described in this report could turn out to be materially
different.฀We฀have฀no฀obligation฀to฀publicly฀update฀or฀
revise our forward-looking statements after the date of
this annual report and you should not expect us to do so.
Investors฀should฀also฀be฀aware฀that฀while฀we฀
do, from time to time, communicate with securities
analysts and others, we do not, by policy, selectively
disclose to them any material, nonpublic informa-
tion฀or฀other฀condential฀commercial฀information.฀
Accordingly, shareholders should not assume that we
agree with any statement or report issued by any securi-
ties analyst regardless of the content of the statement
or฀report.฀We฀do฀not฀issue฀detailed฀nancial฀forecasts฀
or฀projections฀and฀we฀do฀not,฀by฀policy,฀conrm฀those฀
issued by others. Thus, to the extent that reports issued
by฀securities฀analysts฀contain฀any฀projections,฀forecasts฀
or opinions, such reports are not our responsibility.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE: Unless otherwise
stated,฀references฀to฀“we,”฀“our”฀and฀“Dollar฀Tree”฀
generally฀refer฀to฀Dollar฀Tree,฀Inc.฀and฀its฀direct฀and฀
indirect subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. Unless
specically฀indicated฀otherwise,฀any฀references฀to฀
“2010”฀or฀“scal฀2010”,฀“2009”฀or฀“scal฀2009”,฀“2008”฀
or฀“scal฀2008”,฀and฀“2007”฀or฀“scal฀2007,”฀relate฀to฀
as฀of฀or฀for฀the฀years฀ended฀January฀29,฀2011,฀January฀
30,฀2010,฀January฀31,฀2009฀and฀February฀2,฀2008,฀
respectively.
Available Information
Our฀annual฀reports฀on฀Form฀10-K,฀quarterly฀reports฀on฀
Form฀10-Q,฀current฀reports฀on฀Form฀8-K฀and฀amend-
ments฀to฀those฀reports฀led฀or฀furnished฀pursuant฀to฀
Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act
are available free of charge on our website at www.
dollartree.com as soon as reasonably practicable after
electronic฀ling฀of฀such฀reports฀with฀the฀SEC.
14 ฀฀฀DOLLAR฀TREE,฀INC.฀•฀2009฀Annual฀Report