The Pantry, a leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern U.S., has appointed former Dollar General executive Kathleen Guion to its board of directors.

To support its strong growth and fill current vacancies, Dollar General is planning to hire 10,000 employees in May for its store and distribution center locations.

Dollar General reported net income of $317 million for the quarter ended Feb. 1, compared with $293 million in the year-ago period, beating Wall Street expectations.

Dollar General Corp. on posted a bigger-than-expected increase in quarterly profit and total sales in line with Wall Street expectations.

Dollar General is the overall basket price leader delivering a substantial savings to value shoppers, according to Kantar Retail’s second annual opening price point (OPP) survey.

The Western Union Co. and Dollar General Corp. said that they have executed an agreement to begin offering two Western Union general-purpose reloadable prepaid cards at Dollar General’s more than 10,000 stores in 40 states.

Dollar General has awarded grants to more than 593 nonprofit organizations, libraries and schools through the chain's literacy foundation.

Retailers’ growth plans are running about 5% ahead of year-ago projections, according to ChainLinks Retail Advisors’ Spring 2012 Retailer and Restaurant Expansion Guide.

Dollar General Corp. reported that profit for the quarter ended Feb. 3 surged 33% to a record $299 million, from $226 million in the prior year.

Genpact, a leader in business process and technology management, announced the transition services started in 2011 have been completed and IT Help Desk production support services are now fully operational as of Jan. 1, 2012 with Dollar General Corp.

Dollar General plans to open 625 stores and add more than 6,000 new jobs in 2012.