Dollar Store #1

Police seek suspect in dollar store heist

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2005

SPRINGDALE — Police are looking for a man who they believe tied up a store clerk Monday evening after robbing a store.

No one was injured in the robbery at the Dollar General Store at 507 E. Emma Ave., Springdale police Cpl. Chris McCarville said Tuesday. The incident occurred at 7:15 p.m.

The clerk said the man walked into the store and went directly to the office in the back of the building, reports state. The man then pulled a knife and demanded money from the clerk.

He tied the clerk up after stealing an undetermined amount of money, McCarville said. She was found a short time later by another employee.

A white male armed with a knife entered the Dollar General at 507 W. Ave. at about 7:15 p.m.

demanding a female employee give him the money from a safe. The employee complied, handing the robber an undisclosed amount of cash, according to a police news release.
The man tied up the woman and left her in the office with the door shut. Another employee found the woman.
Witnesses described the suspect as 5-feet, 6-inches tall, weighing about 180 pounds, in his late 20s or early 30s. No arrest had been made late Tuesday afternoon.

Fellow Fool writer W.D. Crotty thinks Dollar Tree (Nasdaq: DLTR - News) may be passing the buck when it blames high gas

prices as the reason for lower same-store sales. Take a look at declining comps from competitors

Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO - News) and 99 Cents Only (NYSE: NDN - News), and you start to believe that oil is indeed the culprit.

But if consumers are tightening their wallets, it seems to me that these types of value-focused retailers would be the ones that buyers flock to.

Perhaps as testament, penny-pinchers weren't running from Dollar General (NYSE: DG - News).

Fresh off of the heels of strong July comps, Dollar General reported equally impressive second-quarter results.

show of strength that the company attributed to new stores as well as to 3.9% growth in revenues from units opened more than a year.

Gas prices didn't dampen its sales, but increased transportation costs did have an effect on gross profits.

Dollar General identified those costs as one of the reasons its gross profit margins declined to 28.6%, versus 29.2% from the year-ago period.

selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues. It also cited a reduction in store labor costs.

The end result was a 6% net earnings growth to $75.6 million. Through the first six months in fiscal 2005, Dollar General has earned $0.43 per share,

with expectations to earn an additional $0.72 to $0.76 per share through the remainder of the year.

Given its sales and earnings growth, in addition to its rapid store growth with plans to open 730 new units this fiscal year, Dollar General supports a reasonable valuation at

16 times current-year earnings. Investors might do well to pass up the struggling competition, but Dollar General's successes are worth a salute -- and a closer look.

Fool contributor Jeremy MacNealy does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned