Dollar General's Massive 1,000-Store Expansion May Not Counteract Slumping Same-Store Sales

Dollar General

While many retailers are struggling, closing stores and even facing extinction, Dollar General is planning to build 1,000 U.S. stores this year.

Experts wonder whether the discount retailer will keep its ambitious promise, Retail Dive reports. Averaging out to 2.5 new stores a day, Dollar General’s expansion plans are the largest in recent U.S. history and will bring the retailer into North Dakota, increasing the firm’s state count to 44.

But will this boost same-store sales? Cushman & Wakefield VP of retail research in the Americas Garrick Brown told Bisnow the company's footprint expansion is a push by Wall Street to counteract the company's lack of organic same-store sales growth, which is slumping because the market is oversaturated. In its Q3 earnings report last month, the firm reported its second consecutive quarter of disappointing profits and same-store sales that dropped 0.1% compared to the previous year.

"There's still enough people on Wall Street betting on the low-end market that think there’s still room for growth. I don’t see it," Brown said. "It's a Wall Street play, but if I'm a landlord, I'm a little nervous about signing a deal."

With 13,000 retail locations as of August 2016, Dollar General already has more retail stores in the U.S. than any other company, beating out Walmart and CVS, which have 5,229 and 9,600 locations, respectively. If these plans come to fruition, the discount shop will even challenge McDonald’s number of U.S. locations.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's National Newsletters
Related Stories

Why Hines Is Restarting Its Development Engine

How Integrated Infrastructure Can Help AI Data Centers Deploy Faster, Build Smarter

Nvidia Buys Stake In Data Center Power Company

Invesco Cuts Fees, Adds Incentives To Quell Fund Redemption Requests

Investors Anchor Big Capital Into Marinas, Betting On Shallow Supply

Nike Closes 15 Stores Amid Tumultuous Year

Large Commercial Real Estate Sales Up 30% Despite Economic Headwinds

Evergrande Founder Sentenced To Life, 56 Others Sent To Prison In China

Loud And Clear: Why Aiphone Thinks Intercom Ownership Is Best For Multitenant Buildings

The Fast-Food Exec Taking Her Real Estate Talents To The Looksmaxxing Era

Republicans, Democrats Backing Away From Data Centers Amid Rising Backlash

TJ Maxx Parent Plans To Accelerate Store Openings In 2027