CHESAPEAKE Dollar Tree Inc.'s stock price surged Wednesday after the retailer announced its earnings jumped 51 percent in the second quarter from the same period a year ago.

Dollar Tree Inc. announced Tuesday that it has reduced the size of its board of directors to 11 members from 13. The board approved the change in the company's bylaws after its annual meeting of shareholders Thursday, when Alan L. Wurtzel retired from the board and Eileen R. Scott's term ended.

VIRGINIA BEACH Marilyn Danner and her grandchildren enjoy shopping at Dollar Tree so much that she decided three or four years ago to buy them stock in the company. "It's kind of their introduction to investment," said Danner, who holds her own shares of the Chesapeake-based retailer and bought one share for each of the four grandchildren.

CHESAPEAKE Bolstered by another strong quarter and a 38.5 percent increase in earnings, Dollar Tree Inc.'s CEO touted the chain's "positive momentum" and continued growth.

Dollar Tree Inc. paid its chief executive $3.75 million in salary, bonuses, stock awards and other compensation in 2008, up almost 45 percent from 2007.

Strong shopping traffic from Valentine’s Day through Easter helped boost sales for Dollar Tree Inc. by 14 percent for the 2009 first quarter to $1.2 billion, the retailer announced Thursday.

Sales in comparable stores – those open at least 12 months, providing the best measure of year-over-year performance – jumped 9 percent for the quarter, which ended May 2.

Few retail executives sound upbeat about 2008, but Bob Sasser of Dollar Tree Inc. is one of them.

Dollar Tree announced Wednesday that its profit jumped by 11 percent in its fourth quarter, ended Jan. 31, from the same period a year ago, to $105.2 million or $1.15 per share. For its full fiscal year, earnings rose 14 percent to $229.5 million or $2.53 per share.

CHESAPEAKE

Dollar Tree Inc., based in Chesapeake, will stop selling “glue traps” for animals in its stores, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said today. In a news release, PETA said it lobbied Dollar Tree to stop marketing the traps because they cause “intense suffering” for animals.

Dollar Tree Inc. has agreed to provide workers' compensation benefits after initially denying them to the son of an employee who was stabbed to death at one of its California stores.

Dollar Tree Inc. has agreed to pay a $120,000 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week. Dollar Tree, based in Chesapeake, sold an estimated 1.8 million cans of Zany String in aerosol cans using an ozone-depleting propellant between September 2004 and May 2005, according to the EPA.