The biggest “dollar” store company in Burnaby might want to consider changing its name after announcing price hikes this week.
Dollarama, which operates Burnaby stores at on Marine Way, Kingsway and at Station Square in the Metrotown area, are rolling out additional price points up to $5.
And inflationary costs were to blame, the company said.
"There will be a gradual ramp up starting mid-year and becoming more noticeable through the second half of the year," Neil Rossy, Dollarama president and CEO, said during a call with analysts. "This brings additional flexibility to manage cost pressures in a heightened inflationary environment."
But the store is "extremely sensitive to this not simply being a markup tool," he added.
"It enables us to deepen our broad and compelling product assortment," Rossy said. "It allows us to bring in goods that we've never been able to buy because they weren't in our price range."
Customers will not likely be happy as the price hikes come as the company reported a big jump in profits – from $220 million for the quarter ended Jan. 30 compared with a profit of $173.9 million a year earlier.
Sales totalled $1.22 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the same quarter last year, helped by an increase in the number of stores and a 5.7 per cent uptick in comparable store sales.
The company said that supply chain and other inflationary pressures are expected to be felt more this year.
- With files from the Canadian Press
