Howard Levine, CEO of Matthews-based Family Dollar, was set to appear on Tuesday's edition of "Nightline," talking about the growth of dollar stores and defending the practice of importing cheap goods from overseas.
During the segment, Levine told the interviewer he doesn't mind when he - or his 7,550 stores - are called cheap.
"If somebody told me I was cheap, I would take that as a compliment," Levine said. "That means we are looking for value. That means we don't overpay for stuff."
He also defended the fact that about a third of the goods the company sells are made overseas, much of it in China, as a necessity. "Unfortunately, a lot of manufacturing has gone overseas," Levine said. "They have a cheap way of doing it and consumers accept it. There is no backlash from that so you got to go where you get the value and you got to go where you have the workmanship and the factories to do that."
So, did you see the video? What did you think?
(Editor's note: The show featuring Levine was bumped for extra coverage of a mall shooting in Oregon that happened earlier in the day).
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6 comments:
Family Dollar and other stores like it are making low cost everyday items available to Americans. Buying low cost items from China or any other foreign country should not be an issue as long as they follow the health and safety laws to ensure the products are safe. They are able to make products available that other wise would be hard to find bargains from other big box retailers. They are fulfilling a niche that is more apparent during these recessionary times. Otherwise this story would not make a blip if times were good and Americans had the money to spend.
Good for the Levines and for all the charitable work they do for this community.
I'm not meaning to sound ugly here, but has anyone who does not live near a Family Dollar store gone in one and compared prices of their product with a business such as Wal-Mart? Their prices are basically the same...and those that are cheaper are not significantly enough to mention or otherwise praise in my opinion. I believe there is an assumption by the general public that they are cheaper priced because they are mostly located near rougher, or otherwise lower income, sections of the towns or cities they locate in - and because their stores' general appearance have a low cost like look to them. Because of where most of their stores are located, there is not much competition for them, but their prices are not really anything to write home about. Their stores are basically oversized convenience stores with Wal-Mart-like prices.
Bad news.. He wasnt on there due to the incident in Oregon... Story must have been written "ahead"..
I agree with comments from previous submitter. Family Dollar is located in lower income areas and appear to have low prices. Additionally, most of the products sold in Family Dollar are of very low quality and they do not last very long.
Shoppers at Dollar Stores should realize that these items are not produced locally. Please do not complain if you cannot find work, if you continue to shop for items not made here. Shake your heads, people!
For the past three years I have delivered merchandise to Family Dollar stores.During this time I have seen and heard how bad store employees are treated.Store managers are paid on a 52 hour a week salary.Most store managers typically work 70 plus hours a week due to payroll cuts at their store.Additionally they do not recieve any additional compensation for the hours past the 52 they are required to work.I could easily post a longer comment on the labor practices of this company,but I'm sure people who read this posting will get the point.Other than pure greed there is no acceptable excuse for the way this company treats their employees.
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