Fred’s to unveil new box

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/23/2005 12:20:00 PM

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Fred’s Inc. will begin rolling out a new prototype that relocates higher-margin products to the front of the store and edits underperforming product categories, the company said during its presentation for the William Blair & Co. 25th Annual Growth Stock Conference earlier today.

The first will open around Aug. 1, with two more units opening by Sept. 1.Another major initiative is the retailer’s category management improvement program. Michael Hayes, CEO, said that for the past 18 months, Fred’s has been “rewriting and drafting a plan” that will allow its buyers to measure the contribution per square foot of categories, evaluate skus and ultimately determine the best performing categories.