The planned closures are related to what the company views as high rent in nearly 400 locations. File Photo by Tupungato/Shutterstock/UPI

March 6 (UPI) -- Nearly 400 high-rent Family Dollar store locations will be closed this year and another 1,000 locations will be renovated, parent company Dollar Tree said Wednesday.

Dollar Tree announced the closures in its fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday.


The company said it's already closed 84 under-performing stores during Q4 of 2018 and will continue asking landlords for concessions so it won't have to close more. If rents aren't reduced, it added, another 390 will close by year's end.

"We are confident we are taking the appropriate steps to reposition our Family Dollar brand for increasing profitability," Dollar Tree CEO Gary Philbin said in Wednesday's earnings call.

The company's earnings for the quarter narrowly beat Wall Street estimates -- with a profit of $1.93 per share over the 13 weeks ending Feb. 2. Analysts projected $1.92 per share. Sales at established stores were up 2.4 percent, versus expectations of 1.5 percent, and revenues were $6.21 billion.

Philbin has been Dollar Tree chief executive since the company acquired Family Dollar in July 2015.

The company also said in the call Wednesday its stores will soon begin selling alcohol for the first time. Expanded freezers and cooler sections will be added to about 400 stores and 200 will be rebranded as Dollar Tree locations.