Dollar General To Open 800 Stores In 2024

[storewanderer]

I've posted on other threads about how terrible the local Dollar General is (TL;DR version: You only have about a 50% chance of the store actually being open if you visit during regular business hours.) It's basically the only store within a 5 mile radius of my house (there's a Lowes grocery a little further out which is nice but also rather expensive, and a Food Lion a little further than that which is very average but also fairly expensive) but I have no idea how they manage to actually stay in business with the way they run the place.

This has happened on and off with the Reno Dollar General, they would close at 5 PM or 6 PM or 8 PM randomly. But the rural ones seem to be strict with the 8 AM to 9 PM-10 PM-11 PM schedule.

I am a little surprised this location near you has been allowed to have this unpredictable hours situation for this long. Usually it happens for a few months then they find more employees.

I'd love to know how many of the 19,000 stores lose money. Someday we will know.

[storewanderer]

This problem is way more complicated than anyone has posited.

"Not sure why some posters here are so down on this chain... especially when they don't live out in the middle of nowhere and even have to shop there..."

I will continue to disparage this format because it is an awful solution to an exigent problem. It is not even a real solution.

The bigger picture (with these types of stores) is still putrid.

Well I look at this this way: other retailers have had decades to expand into these markets. They didn't do it. Dollar General saw a niche to fit into and has run with it.

The areas are better off with this store than no store at all and if you lived in one of these rural areas you'd understand. Even if the place was 95% useless to you, in that 5% of time when it was actually useful, you'd still be better off than if it wasn't there at all.

19,000 stores with average profit last quarter per store of just $14,000 per store seems like a pretty thin rope in my opinion.

Where I see the big missed opportunity is if they paid employees more and operated the stores better, they could generate significantly more sales volume. But I could say that about most retailers including many unionized retailers. But for captive audience stores the opportunity is even greater.

[veteran+]

I can fully empathize with that situation and can fully understand. I am quite sensitive to the needs of others........to a fault.

I am just saying it stinks that these folks have to be grateful for these types of nasty retail.

[Super S]

Well I look at this this way: other retailers have had decades to expand into these markets. They didn't do it. Dollar General saw a niche to fit into and has run with it.

The areas are better off with this store than no store at all and if you lived in one of these rural areas you'd understand. Even if the place was 95% useless to you, in that 5% of time when it was actually useful, you'd still be better off than if it wasn't there at all.

19,000 stores with average profit last quarter per store of just $14,000 per store seems like a pretty thin rope in my opinion.

Where I see the big missed opportunity is if they paid employees more and operated the stores better, they could generate significantly more sales volume. But I could say that about most retailers including many unionized retailers. But for captive audience stores the opportunity is even greater.

The better Dollar General stores I have been to have been the more rural locations. I have been to some when visiting family in small towns, and in those cases the closest Walmart, major grocer, etc. is 10-20 miles away or more. The small towns often do have other established retailers, but depending on the type of town, sometimes owners of those retailers will cater more to tourists than locals, which often translates into higher prices. Many locals actually avoid said local retailers due to this. Dollar General offers better prices.

Due to the number of small town Dollar General locations in some areas, they tend to serve more locals and aren't destination stores, and as a result, are less crowded. Some people do get tired of large crowds at Walmart, Target etc. and, even with limited staffing, can get in and out of a Dollar General faster, especially if a Walmart is 10-20 miles away. I will say though that, as "cheap" as their buildings can sometimes be, the fact that they built a new store in a small town with little retail investment in many years sometimes resonates with people.

[storewanderer]

I can fully empathize with that situation and can fully understand. I am quite sensitive to the needs of others........to a fault.

I am just saying it stinks that these folks have to be grateful for these types of nasty retail.

Look at some of the Dollar General locations near me- there is just nothing in these places that resembles retail. Dollar General despite its faults really does pack in a good merchandise mix into its stores. It may be messy and you may have to dig around and you definitely want to check expiration dates... but... if it is that or drive 30 minutes to Wal Mart... The Dollar General drug/HBA area is pretty close to a drugstore, they are solid for paper/cleaning products, food skews toward convenience type food but they do have a lot of canned foods/boxed foods/cereals and later remodels have produce (way overpriced) and larger dairy/frozen.

If I lived out in one of these places and had an unexpected small home issue and needed a hammer or tool, got sick and needed medicine, ran out of some simple cooking ingredient like a baking soda or something, middle of summer and my hose was leaking/broke and I needed a new hose quick, unexpectedly ran out of window wash fluid for the car in the winter, whatever, I would be very thankful this store existed and I was able to get my product close to home and at a semi-reasonable price. People living in rural locations are conditioned to planning ahead and anticipating their needs but when Dollar General shows up and brings these items closer to them it gives them an easy back up for the times when emergency needs arise or they fail to plan ahead.

For instance - Dollar General Doyle, CA - Doyle has never had any store. There was a gas station with a c-store that had some groceries (super high prices).

Dollar General Portola, CA - this store is very busy (open until 11 PM) and the independent there Leonard's (owned by some group out of WA- has highway robbery pricing) has definitely been hurt by them.

Dollar General Washoe Valley, NV and Silver Springs, NV - just nothing in these towns ever until Dollar General arrived.


Dollar General Janesville, CA - again just nothing here until Dollar General put a store up.

Dollar General Westwood, CA - not long after this opened a very long time independent grocer in that town, Young's, closed.

Dollar General Greenville, CA - this is the town that largely burnt down but they did save the Dollar General and it did reopen. The independent grocer in this town changed ownership after Dollar General opened no longer local owner.

Dollar General Loma Rica, CA - this store- can't believe it is here. The gas station across the road has a larger than average grocery mix and I am sure has been hurt.

Dollar General Brownsville, CA - again this store - not sure what it is doing there but it is there..

I can't fully figure out their location strategy. I think they may look for post offices and decide if it is viable to build a store nearby.

Spending time in their stores they do fill a need. The general mood/attitude in these stores is positive. The other thing is there are not a whole lot of employment opportunities in these areas because there are so few businesses and in some cases there are a few people around who want a job part time close to home so this store provides for that too but they pay too little and aren't staffed well so seem to have no shortage of employee turnover.

[wnetmacman]

I can't fully figure out their location strategy. I think they may look for post offices and decide if it is viable to build a store nearby.

The location strategy is to look for population. I know of several spots not near anything of note, yet Dollar General is right there. A couple of stores near me are just on a main, high traffic road.

[veteran+]

I can fully empathize with that situation and can fully understand. I am quite sensitive to the needs of others........to a fault.

I am just saying it stinks that these folks have to be grateful for these types of nasty retail.

Look at some of the Dollar General locations near me- there is just nothing in these places that resembles retail. Dollar General despite its faults really does pack in a good merchandise mix into its stores. It may be messy and you may have to dig around and you definitely want to check expiration dates... but... if it is that or drive 30 minutes to Wal Mart... The Dollar General drug/HBA area is pretty close to a drugstore, they are solid for paper/cleaning products, food skews toward convenience type food but they do have a lot of canned foods/boxed foods/cereals and later remodels have produce (way overpriced) and larger dairy/frozen.

If I lived out in one of these places and had an unexpected small home issue and needed a hammer or tool, got sick and needed medicine, ran out of some simple cooking ingredient like a baking soda or something, middle of summer and my hose was leaking/broke and I needed a new hose quick, unexpectedly ran out of window wash fluid for the car in the winter, whatever, I would be very thankful this store existed and I was able to get my product close to home and at a semi-reasonable price. People living in rural locations are conditioned to planning ahead and anticipating their needs but when Dollar General shows up and brings these items closer to them it gives them an easy back up for the times when emergency needs arise or they fail to plan ahead.

For instance - Dollar General Doyle, CA - Doyle has never had any store. There was a gas station with a c-store that had some groceries (super high prices).

Dollar General Portola, CA - this store is very busy (open until 11 PM) and the independent there Leonard's (owned by some group out of WA- has highway robbery pricing) has definitely been hurt by them.

Dollar General Washoe Valley, NV and Silver Springs, NV - just nothing in these towns ever until Dollar General arrived.


Dollar General Janesville, CA - again just nothing here until Dollar General put a store up.

Dollar General Westwood, CA - not long after this opened a very long time independent grocer in that town, Young's, closed.

Dollar General Greenville, CA - this is the town that largely burnt down but they did save the Dollar General and it did reopen. The independent grocer in this town changed ownership after Dollar General opened no longer local owner.

Dollar General Loma Rica, CA - this store- can't believe it is here. The gas station across the road has a larger than average grocery mix and I am sure has been hurt.

Dollar General Brownsville, CA - again this store - not sure what it is doing there but it is there..

I can't fully figure out their location strategy. I think they may look for post offices and decide if it is viable to build a store nearby.

Spending time in their stores they do fill a need. The general mood/attitude in these stores is positive. The other thing is there are not a whole lot of employment opportunities in these areas because there are so few businesses and in some cases there are a few people around who want a job part time close to home so this store provides for that too but they pay too little and aren't staffed well so seem to have no shortage of employee turnover.

Yep, I totally get it and your view is totally valid but I lean to a Macro view of this and the implications.

Lack of choice forces people to support companies that are rotten to the core and by defacto exacerbates the decline of the retail experience (quality, service, price, health & safety, shopping environment, etc.) and the greater socio-economic-cultural landscape.

Why do shoppers have to "work" to spend money in a store? Why do shoppers have to dig through an orgy of junk and also check for expiration issues? Let's not even cover sanitation, health, safety, labor and customer relations. That a customer has to settle for this and support a company that is constantly hauled into court for a myriad of legal transgressions is frankly incredible

[SamSpade]

Since DG is relatively new to the northwest, I thought I would try to look at where they are and if I know anything about these communities:
IDAHO
Council: DG smartly built on the highway. M&W is an old name in Idaho groceries and they have a market in town. They probably will be OK as there is the state liquor store contained inside their location and the only bank in town nearby.

Payette: One of those towns that is a bit of a drive to another general merchandise retailer. Was probably served by KING'S before they shut down. Albertsons is the grocer here.

Weiser: Has Bi-Mart and Ridley's. I can't remember if Ridley's relocated to a more modern facility /added ACE Hardware after the roof collapse on their old Safeway location.

Athol: Small community on US 95 in northern Idaho "sandwiched" between larger communities with more retail. Super 1 Foods (URM O&O) is the grocer here.

Sagle: Almost but not quite Sandpoint, ID. Congested/busy highway with seasonal traffic to and from Sandpoint and you must cross a bridge.

Priest River: Mitchell's Harvest Foods (URM supplied) on US2, DG in-town so probably more popular with locals or folks that come to town for bank/post office as mentioned earlier in this thread. Decent drive to Sandpoint. I think this community may have previously had a Shopko Hometown.

Bonners Ferry: Probably gets a touch of Canadian business, though I think a lot of those habits changed after being locked out of the USA for so long. The store is on the north end actually in the county, not the town, where traffic comes back to Hwy 95 from Moyie Springs and Montana. Bonners had a modern (Lifestyle, relocated) Safeway and a local grocer that opened in the former downtown Safeway near the post office. It's a feasible but not fast drive down to Sandpoint for most general shopping needs.

No locations in eastern Idaho. If DG were to open in some of these communities, it would likely be a winner. I think that Family Dollar took over in these communities and reduced sales at KING'S.

WASHINGTON
Eastern Washington mainly small communities, looks like one is in Moses Lake though. Also dotting the I-82 / US 97 corridor between Yakima and the Tri-Cities.

Western Washington: Large cluster in Centralia, WA for some reason. Otherwise dotting small rural communities in the area between the coast and the Cascades here. No locations in northwestern Washington that I see.

OREGON
On the Coast - only Rockaway Beach, Waldport and Yachats so far, which are somewhat isolated and a very slow drive up Hwy 101 to Newport for any major retail. One in Gearhart, which is sandwiched between Warrenton/Astoria and Seaside.

In the Willamette Valley and I-5 Corridor - seem to be going into these smaller communities that likely did not have much beyond a gas station mini-mart. A few in Grants Pass, one in Eugene, one in Springfield

Central Oregon - opened in Sisters, La Pine. These are Bi-Mart and Ray's towns, hopefully enough $ for all. Christmas Valley got a location, and I'm sure they are VERY appreciative. That's RURAL country.

Eastern Oregon - Burns & John Day have 'em. JD's replaced a hole left by the closure of King's I'm sure. Burns will have that "buffer" now that Rite Aid is out. The other locations are over in the Treasure Valley (Ontario/Vale/Nyssa). So far they have stayed off the I-84 corridor, but I could only imagine how appreciative a town like Huntington or North Powder would be.

[ClownLoach]

I can fully empathize with that situation and can fully understand. I am quite sensitive to the needs of others........to a fault.

I am just saying it stinks that these folks have to be grateful for these types of nasty retail.

Look at some of the Dollar General locations near me- there is just nothing in these places that resembles retail. Dollar General despite its faults really does pack in a good merchandise mix into its stores. It may be messy and you may have to dig around and you definitely want to check expiration dates... but... if it is that or drive 30 minutes to Wal Mart... The Dollar General drug/HBA area is pretty close to a drugstore, they are solid for paper/cleaning products, food skews toward convenience type food but they do have a lot of canned foods/boxed foods/cereals and later remodels have produce (way overpriced) and larger dairy/frozen.

If I lived out in one of these places and had an unexpected small home issue and needed a hammer or tool, got sick and needed medicine, ran out of some simple cooking ingredient like a baking soda or something, middle of summer and my hose was leaking/broke and I needed a new hose quick, unexpectedly ran out of window wash fluid for the car in the winter, whatever, I would be very thankful this store existed and I was able to get my product close to home and at a semi-reasonable price. People living in rural locations are conditioned to planning ahead and anticipating their needs but when Dollar General shows up and brings these items closer to them it gives them an easy back up for the times when emergency needs arise or they fail to plan ahead.

For instance - Dollar General Doyle, CA - Doyle has never had any store. There was a gas station with a c-store that had some groceries (super high prices).

Dollar General Portola, CA - this store is very busy (open until 11 PM) and the independent there Leonard's (owned by some group out of WA- has highway robbery pricing) has definitely been hurt by them.

Dollar General Washoe Valley, NV and Silver Springs, NV - just nothing in these towns ever until Dollar General arrived.


Dollar General Janesville, CA - again just nothing here until Dollar General put a store up.

Dollar General Westwood, CA - not long after this opened a very long time independent grocer in that town, Young's, closed.

Dollar General Greenville, CA - this is the town that largely burnt down but they did save the Dollar General and it did reopen. The independent grocer in this town changed ownership after Dollar General opened no longer local owner.

Dollar General Loma Rica, CA - this store- can't believe it is here. The gas station across the road has a larger than average grocery mix and I am sure has been hurt.

Dollar General Brownsville, CA - again this store - not sure what it is doing there but it is there..

I can't fully figure out their location strategy. I think they may look for post offices and decide if it is viable to build a store nearby.

Spending time in their stores they do fill a need. The general mood/attitude in these stores is positive. The other thing is there are not a whole lot of employment opportunities in these areas because there are so few businesses and in some cases there are a few people around who want a job part time close to home so this store provides for that too but they pay too little and aren't staffed well so seem to have no shortage of employee turnover.

Yep, I totally get it and your view is totally valid but I lean to a Macro view of this and the implications.

Lack of choice forces people to support companies that are rotten to the core and by defacto exacerbates the decline of the retail experience (quality, service, price, health & safety, shopping environment, etc.) and the greater socio-economic-cultural landscape.

Why do shoppers have to "work" to spend money in a store? Why do shoppers have to dig through an orgy of junk and also check for expiration issues? Let's not even cover sanitation, health, safety, labor and customer relations. That a customer has to settle for this and support a company that is constantly hauled into court for a myriad of legal transgressions is frankly incredible

This is a well known bad employer with poor working and safety conditions, understaffing that leads to robberies and even homicides. They lead an industry that has had significant gun crime. And what is worse is that the Wall Street "monkey see, monkey do" philosophy is bolstered by their apparent survival on such horrible understaffing levels and overworked managers, causing the Fat Cats to try to foist the same concept into other retailers because "Dollar General can survive with zero payroll so you should be able to as well." There has to be a better answer than Dollar General.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/dollar ... orker-pay/

[storewanderer]

Yep, I totally get it and your view is totally valid but I lean to a Macro view of this and the implications.

Lack of choice forces people to support companies that are rotten to the core and by defacto exacerbates the decline of the retail experience (quality, service, price, health & safety, shopping environment, etc.) and the greater socio-economic-cultural landscape.

Why do shoppers have to "work" to spend money in a store? Why do shoppers have to dig through an orgy of junk and also check for expiration issues? Let's not even cover sanitation, health, safety, labor and customer relations. That a customer has to settle for this and support a company that is constantly hauled into court for a myriad of legal transgressions is frankly incredible

These folks had no retail experience available. They had dirt, sagebrush, pine trees, and crickets for 50 years. Dollar General shows up and puts up its metal building and gets a merchandise mix that has surprising depth (I think you'd be impressed with the amount of items they pack into their space) and a well developed private label program throughout their store that is present but does not suffocate space from normal brands either.

I would agree it would be better if they could get a retailer in who had better staffing, more pay, and higher store standards but for 50 years that just didn't happen.

The locations that are neat/orderly to shop in are actually not bad places to shop given the convenience factor. There are some of those around. But these stores have a lot of ups and downs.

I look at them as a cheaper, much more merchandised convenience store.

And frankly my interactions with their employees are mostly positive. I don't find their service to be especially worse than most other retailers. In some cases these employees are happy to actually have a job close to where they live.

I know your solution may be suggesting everyone "move out" of these remote areas so they have more choices of stores/employers but for whatever reasons some people want to be in these remote areas and if the stores can operate profitably and meet their needs I don't see a huge issue. I'd like them to do some things better and maybe over time they will get some control over inventory which will help the safety issues of too much freight, etc.

Long term I am not sure what will happen with these stores- the profit per store is so low there is not much room for "error."