Behind Dollar General's Strategy to Dominate Rural America | WSJ The Economics Of

Dollar General has reported 31 consecutive years of growth and is opening new U.S. stores every day. In this video, WSJ takes an inside look at how the discount retailer keeps expanding while maintaining prices significantly lower than many grocery and drug stores.

Photo: Matt Disbro for The Wall Street Journal

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[brendoncrum]

As someone from a rural place, the Dollar General was the only store within 15 miles except for a gas station. As they started to add a grocery area it made it more useful for us and really was pivotal to our community. I see this all across my state which is very rural

[brockandjoicy]

I lived in a tiny town with a dollar general and a gas station for awhile. I wouldn't buy food there but if we ran out of something it was great not having to drive 30 minutes to get to the closest town that actually had stuff.

[robertmiller]

They're not lying about competitive wages. It's just that the competition is to pay employees as little as possible.

[ktoth]

I used to work for a company that built DG's and can confirm they were all either in the hood or on a rural highway way out in the middle of nowhere

[peytonwakham]

while paying those "competitive wages" the stores never have more than 2 people on duty at one time and those two people are expected to work as hard as a 6 person team, otherwise you may get writeups. I used to be a manager at DG

[ILykToDoDuhDrifting]

Metal shelves... incredible. When will other retailers find out about this technique.

[charlesgrace]

Dollar General is one of the best things to happen for rural Americans in decades. I don’t understand people who criticize them. They are meeting a great need for people n “flyover country” and my guess is that most of their employees are glad to have these jobs. You can park at the door, get much of what you need, and not have to stand in line to check out. They are especially great for older people who don’t like big box stores or who can’t drive miles away to the nearest big box store. Thank you Dollar General from this rural American.

[McMillanScottish]

I just moved to the middle of Tennessee where shopping is tough. But there’s a Dollar General five minutes down the road. And that place has pretty much anything you need in a hurry, but nothing great. That’s pretty much their deal.

[yuask]

Dollar General: We have a small, low paid, part time staff
Also Dollar General: We pay our employees a competitive wage

[thefattymcgee]

Dollar tree= 1$. Dollar General= "is it a dollar?" "Generally".

[DymaxionDon]

Corporate America abandoned rural areas years ago so they have no competition.

[Enrique-Garcia]

"Dollar General says they offer their employees competitive wages and benefits"

What benefits? Part-time employees don't get benefits!!

[SDeeze]

It's crazy how years ago, places like DG used to overlook people who didn't have work experience...now the ones in my area will hire anyone due to the high turnover rates 💀
Also... Every DG near me looks like a tornado passed through it...respectfully.

[velious]

Keep your employees in poverty. This is key to building massive wealth for yourself at the expense of others.

[CoasterManOfficial]

I've shopped at a Dollar General in a city with a population of ~100 people. It's no surprise they're growing. There are lots of rural areas in this country.

[oldcountryman]

You have to be very selective at DG. Not everything is a priced reasonably.

[peterwink]

I have two in my city! This video explains why their stores are always a mess. Never fully stocked. Boxes everywhere. Low wages and even lower hrs. Great way to run a place.

[alittlepieceofearth]

Yeah, competitive wage. . . read that as minimum wage plus fifteen cents.

[sunshynefl]

They do good because they build stores in areas where there is no other stores..i live in a small town and the only store is the dollar store unless you drive 20-30 mins to the next town

[civlyzed]

The town where I went to High School used to have 3 local grocery stores and now they only have a Dollar General and a Family Dollar. The closest real grocery store is about 30 minutes away, so whenever I go visit I bring fresh produce to my mother. The dollar stores have enough to live on, but not many fresh/healthy products.