Dollar General to launch convenience chain

[wnetmacman]

Looks like Dollar General wants to get into the convenience store market. Called DGX, the first store will open soon in a former TGIFriday's in downtown Nashville.

Dollar General to open new concept in Midtown

Looks pretty much like any other new convenience store. Let's see if this works for them.

[BatteryMill]

It's got to have some sort of famous gimmick, such as Wawa's Hoagies and 7-Eleven's classic Slurpees. Oh, and maybe a gas station as well for extra bulk when it steps into the heavyweight convenience ring.

[storewanderer]

Dollar General's own stores operate with a convenience store like labor model yet have a lot more product offerings than a typical convenience store. I am of the impression shrink/shoplifting is a pretty serious problem for Dollar General despite there not being much high value stuff in the place.

Some of the worst conditions on cleanliness, most expired products, and worst conditions on employee behavior/appearance I have experienced at any retailer have been at Dollar General Stores.

I will be curious to see how this plays out.

[pseudo3d]

Part of the appeal of modern convenience stores is being "shiny" with a focus on fresh food. Every convenience store is doing it. Dollar General really has no experience in food, their closest variant is Dollar General Market, which I've never seen in person but seems to be really low-end, with no service departments whatsoever (I'm surprised that a few produce items AREN'T pre-packaged). I give it a year before they close or sell the stores.

[storewanderer]

Dollar General Market is extremely low end. Dollar General in general is extremely low end. I think they have a solid formula for building pre-fabricated buildings in places where land is super cheap and running on skeleton staffing levels with most prices within 10% of Wal Mart on a pretty well selected in my opinion mix of items.

Convenience is another animal and it will be interesting to see how it goes. I suspect in the end they will try to cram in as much merchandise as possible and the convenience stores will simply be seen as smaller Dollar General Stores. Fountain and Coffee drinks? Good luck. We see how that program went at Walgreens...