Dive Brief:
- Family Dollar reported a 33% drop in earnings in the most-recent quarter. Same-store sales fell 1.8%.
- The earnings report comes as the discount chain, which caters to low-income Americans, faces growing pressure to sell from activist investor Carl Icahn, who owns 9.4% of the company's stock.
- During the earnings call Thursday, executives from the company announced plans to begin selling beer and wine in an attempt to bring shoppers back to their stores.
Dive Insight:
Family Dollar has much working against it...particularly its closest rival, Dollar General, which consistently delivers the lowest grocery prices in the country.
Family Dollar has taken a number of steps to try to turn things around, most notably making the decision to close 277 underperforming stores. That process is expected to be completed next month.