Dollar Tree Expansion Brought Better Sales, Profits Miss Survey

Discount variety store Dollar Tree has offered more selections to customers and it rang the cash registers more often. However, profits in the latest quarter missed forecasts because of the expansion and shipment costs. Profit came in at 61 cents a share, three cents short of expectations. Sales rose almost 10% from a year ago to over $2 billion. That's a little above estimates. Sales at stores open for at least one year grew again. CEO Bob Sasser said, "Our 4.5% comp sales resulted from increases in both customer traffic and average ticket. Our store teams delivered its 26th consecutive quarter of positive comparable store sales growth." Bottom line missed because of shipping costs and investment in higher-value products. The chain has also been expanding aggressively. It opened 90 stores in the past quarter. Retail footage increased 7% compared to a year earlier to almost 45 million square feet.