Dollar Tree Inc. won a hard-fought battle to buy Family Dollar more than three years ago, beating out Dollar General Corp. for the roughly 8,200-store chain that caters to low-income shoppers by selling everything from $40 wireless speakers to 55-cent cans of Vienna sausage, the Wall Street Journal reported. Dollar Tree at the time was the smallest of the three discount retailers, and sought more heft to compete with Dollar General and the likes of Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. But now Dollar Tree executives are trying to prove the nearly $9 billion cash-and-stock purchase wasn’t a mistake. Family Dollar’s sales have been sputtering, pulled down by neglected stores, poor product selection and unhappy workers, according to analysts. The problems stretch back to before Dollar Tree bought the business. But executives had hoped to be further along in solving them, say people familiar with the company, and now the stores are dragging on Dollar Tree’s sales and stock price.
