If you like saving a buck on name-brand merchandise, Dollar General is the store for you.
Unlike its direct competitor Dollar Tree, Dollar General features an array of popular brands like Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
In fact, you can find products from major manufacturers at Dollar General that you won’t find anywhere else!
This year’s summer Dollar General exclusives include Oreo Mississippi Mud Pie, Regal Cinemas microwave popcorn and Hawaiian Punch Mango Monsoon, among other products.
Read more: How to score a real deal at Dollar General
Here’s what’s new at Dollar General
Dollar General Corporation (DG) Goodlettsville, TN., beat Wall Street expectations with a strong quarter highlighted by net sales growth of 6.5% and same-store sales increases of 0.7%.
Below we’ve curated some interesting news nuggets that Dollar General management revealed during an earnings call with analysts on June 1.
More refrigerated coolers are coming
If your Dollar General is five years old or older, it’s considered part of the company’s “mature store base.”
But don’t think that just because it isn’t new that it isn’t getting a lot of love! Nothing could be further from the truth.
Here’s the deal: These mature stores tend to have only 10 refrigerated doors. But they’re about to witness a cooler boom.
“By the end of 2017, we anticipate that across our store base we will have an average of 17 cooler doors, up from 10 in 2012,” CEO Todd Vasos said. “Year-to-date, more than 11,500 cooler doors have been installed across the chain to these locations. We are seeing an improvement in transactions.”
A cleaner shopping experience will be the norm
Dollar General is looking at “reducing inventory, product movement within the stores and operating complexity” within its 13,601 stores across 44 states.
The goal of all the streamlining? To free up employees to put the focus on you and your shopping experience.
“Our store managers and their teams can reinvest time savings to provide better customer service and a clean in-stock shopping experience for our customers,” Vasos told analysts.
Cosmetics and wellness are both getting a facelift
The health & beauty aids (HBA) section is a big focal point for Dollar General.
The cosmetic area has been redesigned in 90% of stores and it’s paying off. “While this reset has recently been executed across nearly 12,000 sites, we’re seeing improvement in our same-store sales,” Vasos says.
And big things are in store for the health section too.
“More [product layout] changes and visual excitement will be coming to our health categories as well,” the CEO notes. The goal is to “increase our offering of value-added differentiated products with a focus on health and wellness; nutrition and personal care.”
Get more than $200 in exclusive digital coupons right now
Now through June 18, Dollar General is rolling out exclusive “Fast Way To Save” offers through its mobile app.
Just visit DollarGeneral.com/Coupons to get more than $200 worth of savings off name brands like Dial, Bounty, Crest and Aquafina.
You’ll also get coupons on store brands such as DG health, DG body, Clover Valley and DG home!
The price continues to be right
Retail consulting firm Kantar recently named Dollar General one of the two cheapest retailers in the country — alongside Walmart. In fact, Dollar General was 99 cents cheaper than Walmart on 11 staple purchases, according to Kantar’s research.
“Our pricing surveys continue to indicate that Dollar General is very well-positioned against all classes of trade and across all geographic regions. We are committed to being priced right for our customers to drive traffic to our stores,” Vasos says.
“We’re more squarely focused on our everyday low prices here. We really feel good about where we are. Our everyday low prices are in the best shape that I think I’ve seen in the close to nine years.”
The Dollar Express acquisition has been approved
In April, Dollar General announced it would acquire some 300 Dollar Express locations.
The Federal Trade Commission has since approved the acquisition and now it’s all systems go.
“These sites are highly complementary to our long-term, new store growth plans with about 85% located in metro areas,” Vasos says. “The majority of these sites are in strategic trade areas that we would have anticipated for new store site selection over time.”
The acquisition brings Dollar General’s anticipated new store count for 2017 to 1,290 — up from the 1,000 new openings initially projected for this year.
More than 10,000 jobs will be created in 2017
Back in February, Dollar General announced the ambitious goal of creating 10,000 new U.S. jobs in 2017 between opening 1,290 stores and two new state-of-the-art distribution centers.
Vasos confirms the company is on track to meet that goal.
Helping the company’s jobs initiative along is an investment in increasing manager compensation, which has resulted in less turnover.
“As I have traveled to our store locations with our field leadership, the feedback and interaction with our store managers on our investment has been extremely positive,” Vasos reported.
“The customer experience and the profitability of our stores should benefit over time from this investment, giving how important the leadership of store manager is to these metrics. Our early progress is encouraging.”
Read more: 5 new things going on at Ollie’s Bargain Outlet
