Strome Business Minute With Dr. Jeff Tanner

I’m Jeff Tanner, Dean of the Strome College of Business at Old Dominion University and this is a Strome Business Minute. Dollar Tree’s stock was downgraded by Bank of America from buy to neutral over concerns that changes to the Family Dollar stores will hurt margins. Family Dollar sells more discretionary products with higher margins while Dollar Tree’s product mix is made up of lower-margin supplies. As the merger continues, Family Dollar’s product mix, according to BOA analysts, is shifting to more of the lower margin products. They also cite leadership changes that put Dollar Tree execs in charge of merchandising for Family Dollar stores, a factor that will accelerate margin loss. Couple that with margin pressure from higher supply chain costs and the analysts are predicting continued margin decline this year. The stock is down over six percent since the first of the year. To learn more, visit odu.edu/business. This has been a Strome Business Minute, presented by the Strome College of Business at Old Domi