Private Label Buyer

Chesapeake, Va.-based Dollar Tree Inc., which operates 3,925 stores, sees the potential to expand its base to up to 7,000 locations, Bob Sasser, president and chief executive officer, told analysts Thursday in a conference call discussing second-quarter results.

The company will end the year with 230 more new stores, for a total of 4,155, he said.

Sasser said Dollar Tree plans to drive additional traffic by adding frozen and refrigerated foods to another 10 percent of its store base this year. The company added freezers and coolers at 117 stores during the quarter, to bring distribution to 43 percent of the chain, and it expects to install coolers at another 46 stores through the balance of the year, which will bring distribution up to 53 percent of the existing store base.