How IT Shapes 'Store of the Future' for Retailer Family Dollar
Family Dollar Stores needed to expand its stores, products and more. Here's how business and IT together crafted a vision of the future and began a big IT revamp, including a lean, new way to send business intelligence to store managers.
Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 increased 17 percent to $37.8 million; that compares to $32.3 million in fourth quarter of fiscal 2006, according to the company. Sales for fiscal 2007 were approximately $6.8 billion, about 6.9 percent better than fiscal 2006.
The growth plan continues: During fiscal 2007, Family Dollar opened 300 new stores and closed 43 stores. It plans to open about 300 new stores in fiscal 2008. Capital expenditures for fiscal 2008 are expected to be between $180 and $190 million.
Jewett and his IT team stay ready for that growth by staying nimble: "What we've developed here is a flexible, scalable model in the data center and the store," he says. "I don’t worry a lot about what I have to do five years from now, I worry about a flexible architecture."
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