Family Dollar 10-Year Lease Stokes Sale

Family Dollar Stores Inc. has been steamrolling its way into suburban Texas pockets in one of the most aggressive expansion plans under way in the state. The just-sold location is an 8,002-sf, freestanding building on a half-acre tract at the southwest corner of Hemphill Road and West Morningside Drive. The property sold on the same day that the tenant moved in, Gavin Kam of Marcus & Millichap in Dallas tells GlobeSt.com.

Kam says the developer/seller has permits in hand to build five to 10 more Family Dollar stores for the corporate office, based in Matthews, NC, on the outskirts of Charlotte. Careful to protect his network, Kam isn't identifying the developer other than to say he's from Oklahoma.

"These deals make a lot of sense for smaller buyers," Kam says of the under $1-million crowd. The Fort Worth buyer, who turned around 1031 Exchange proceeds, also owns a Family Dollar store in South Texas. Meanwhile, Kam has another three, all under construction, matched to buyers while the crews work to deliver the goods. Larry Dwyer of Liberty Realty in Henderson, NV, represented the Fort Worth buyer.

In the land rush for new locations, Hinkle Services Inc. of Edmond, OK, bought about 3.3 acres from Wanda Jones of Mesquite, east of Dallas, to build a Family Dollar at 15329 Seagoville Rd. Stephen Brusniak of Henry S. Miller Commercial in Dallas brokered the transaction for the seller while Gerald Fields, an independent, represented the buyer.

At last count, the chain had 4,808 stores in 42 states. The expansion plan calls for about 500 new locations in the 2003 fiscal year plus a move into Wyoming. In the last two months, the chain opened 65 locations, of which 14 were in Texas. The Texas strategy also brought a 907,000-sf distribution center in Odessa, the seventh in the Family Dollar supply chain. The Interstate 20 center will begin stocking inventory in June to start funneling wares to 750 stores.

The chain's success is measured at the cash registers. In a five-week period, ending in April, the sales volume was $446.7 million, up 14.4% from the 2002 take for the same time period.