Rick Dreiling: Well let’s go with the easy one. The Dollar Tree cooler doors we should have done within the next couple of years. Now the FDO review, we started off with all of our initiatives and the idea being that we get everything in place and see what stores respond and what don’t. And what I do want on this exercise, John, is not everyone to get ahead of me. Because I do think this is a very healthy thing to do and it’s a timely thing to do. There will be some stores we’ll relocate, maybe some stores will close, maybe some stores will re-banner. But I do not have any of that information at this stage of the game. I’ve always prided myself on being transparent and all I’m trying to do is tell the world we’re taking a look at it.
And I do think it’s prudent and I do think — I don’t want anyone to misconstrue that I’m not totally behind Family Dollar because I am and I don’t want anyone to think that that doesn’t mean we’re not going to grow Family Dollar because I’m not saying that at all. It’s simply a matter of reallocating assets to where we think we can be more productive.
Operator: Thank you. Next question is coming from Matthew Boss from JP Morgan. Your line is now live.
Rick Dreiling: Good morning, Matt.
Matthew Boss: Good morning, Rick. So a couple questions from my side. Maybe first, Rick, on mid-single-digit comps at the Dollar Tree banner, what do you think is the best breakdown beyond this year to think about between traffic and ticket? At Family Dollar, Rick, what was the comp in October? Have you seen any change in November? And then Jeff, could you just elaborate on what you’ve seen change in the promotional landscape?
Rick Dreiling: Yeah, I mean let me — let’s start with the promotional landscape. And I’ll take that Jeff if that’s okay and let you put the color around it. I think the promotional landscape, I have not seen anything irrational at this stage of the game. I would look at you and tell you that we are seeing discretionary items being promoted which I think is more a reflex against people worried about the inventory they have on hand. I will tell you Thanksgiving, being an old-time grocer, historically you get the right price on turkey, then you make your money on all the grocery items around it, we saw a lot of incredibly well-priced grocery items this year coming out of the big box in the grocery channel, which is a little contrary. And there has been elevated activity on [CSV] (ph), basically 12-packs. But other than that, there hasn’t been a lot out there. And then on the first question?
Jeff Davis: There’s a question regarding the Family Dollar comps.
Rick Dreiling: Yes.
Jeff Davis: The Family Dollar comps during the course of the quarter, they softened as we went through the quarter. We started off with a nice pace. October was the most challenged month of the quarter, and I think you’ll see that that was across all retail. We were essentially flat in that particular month. And our guidance for Q4 was reflecting the fact that that has continued to soften for us and [give us the] (ph) guidance of down 1% to plus 1% for the entire quarter.
Rick Dreiling: And one thing I’d add to that, Matt, while we think we saw things soften in October, I am knocking on wood here. Thank God we had our initiatives in place. Because while it softened, it could have been a lot worse. And I am very pleased how we got ourselves through that quarter.
Operator: Thank you. Next question is coming from Kate McShane from Goldman Sachs. Your line is now live.
Rick Dreiling: Good morning.
Kate McShane: Good morning. Thanks for taking our question. We wanted to ask specifically about Dollar Tree. We know you noted that you saw a broader range of income shopping at Dollar Tree and it contributed to your Q3 comp growth at the higher end. We wondered with regards to the lower end, just what you were seeing specific to the Dollar Tree banner.
Rick Dreiling: I would say — I mean I would look at you and say Dollar Tree has always had a broad appeal and I think what we’re seeing, what we’re really focused on is the fact that we’re seeing a trade down in the Dollar Tree. I would say the customer base is essentially the same. There’s been a no erosion in the lower income strata, but the growth undoubtedly is coming from the higher income, $125,000 a year.
Jeff Davis: As I reflect back on this, for Dollar Tree, it had a very strong consumable performance, but also better than a 1% comp and discretionary, and still showing growth on a — sizable growth on a year-over-year basis in discretionary. The lower-end customer, lower-income customer, we’re probably seeing more of their dollar in consumables, which is good because we’re continuing to capture units and share there. The higher income customers supporting us in that discretionary area as well as those consumable areas with respect to the multi-price also. So it’s a combination of both those customers is I think is giving such a strong performance across the Dollar Tree banner.
Operator: Thank you. Next question is coming from Krisztina Katai from Deutsche Bank. Your line is now live.
Rick Dreiling: Good morning, Krisztina.
Krisztina Katai: Hi. Good morning, Rick and Jeff. So my question is on Family Dollar. Understandably, there was some weakness with the low-end consumer, but how are you planning to address the softer than planned top line at Family Dollar to get it back on track towards mid-single-digits as that is a big part of the profitability inflection. So how do you think about your current pricing position relative to your peers? And then within the second part of that, I know you’re not guiding to next year, but philosophically, how best to think about the ability of the banner to drive positive units to offset any potential deflation next year in consumables? Thank you.
Rick Dreiling: Yeah, in regards to the top line, in regards to our pricing position, so first thing I would say, our pricing in Family Dollars is good as it’s ever been. And we measure our pricing on a full book basis and what we call key value items. And key value items are the most sensitive items out there. And we do these checks every month, and we do them across multiple channels. So big box as well as small box as well as drug as well as grocery and we’re very, very comfortable where we’re at. We’re right around right on the market 100% in both which means we have price parity. And I believe while we’ve been in this for a year now, I do believe the consumer is starting to respond to that. And remember, we had very powerful consumable growth in quarter three in the Family Dollar brand.
