The positive sales balance achieved by Dollar General stores during the last quarter is showing the success of the company’s plan to invest in the renovation of its stores and to offer more private label products. To continue with their improvement plans, this year they plan to add a section of fresh vegetables in at least 450 stores.
The retail chain also expects to remodel 1,000 stores during 2018 and about 400 of those stores will have the Dollar General Traditional Plus format. Dollar General operates more than 14,000 stores in the United States.
““I am pleased with our overall fourth quarter performance, as we delivered strong same-store sales growth of 3.3%, while achieving a healthy rate of gross margin expansion. For the year, we opened a record 1,315 new stores and delivered a same-store sales increase of 2.7%, marking our 28th consecutive year of positive same-store sales growth,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s chief executive officer.
“At the same time, we proactively made significant investments in the business that we expect will contribute to sustainable sales and profit growth in the years ahead. As we move into 2018, we continue to build momentum behind initiatives that we believe will further enhance our strong value and convenience proposition with consumers and drive long-term success,” explained Vasos.
During a telephone press conference, Vasos spoke about the intention to offer vegetable products in 450 stores, particularly in areas where residents have limited access to these fresh products, which represents an attractive growth opportunity for Dollar General in the years to come.
Vasos explained that in the stores that will be remodeled this year, a cooler set of 34 doors will be added to increase perishable selection. ” Our cooler door expansion has proven to drive baskets and trips with our existing customer base while also attracting new customers with an expanded offering,” said the CEO.