<p> Discount chain Fred’s Inc. is reviewing “strategic opportunities” following essentially flat sales during the holiday and may be considering a sale in the future. The company hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Peter J. Solomon to look at possible options, according to Reuters.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Fred’s reported $209.5 million worth of sales during December, which was primarily driven by the strong performance of its pharmacy department rather than its key general merchandise business. Comparable store sales rose 1.4%. Bruce Efird, CEO, said that Fred’s 2013 fourth quarter promotional strategy, which was centered on Black Friday, “did not produce the incremental gains we expected.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Efird added that the company has revamped its merchandising and marketing team and developed new pricing, marketing, inventory management, and profit strategies to better tackle the challenges and opportunities it faces coming out of the fourth quarter.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Fred’s sales were down -1.01% at $18.71 this morning on the NASDAQ. Its market capitalization is currently at $688.41 million and now has approximately 700 general merchandise stores, mostly in the southeastern U.S.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we follow the potential sale of Fred’s. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/09/freds-options-idUSL3N0KJ46P20140109" target="_new"> Reuters </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
