Dollar General Corp.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. reported that its fiscal third-quarter net rose 34% to $171.2 million on higher sales. The results beat Wall Street expectations and the discounter boosted its full-year earnings guidance

Revenue for the quarter ended Oct. 28, 2011, increased 12% to $3.6 billion from $3.22 billion, topping Wall Street's estimate. Same-store sales rose 6.3% as customer traffic improved and the average transaction amount rose.

Walmart prices are lower than dollar store competitors in two New Jersey markets, but not by much, according to a recent survey conducted by Deutsche Bank.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Dollar General is now accepting MasterCard credit cards at all of the nearly 10,000 Dollar General locations across the country, expanding on previous acceptance of MasterCard debit and prepaid cards. 

“Dollar General was the first among small-box value discounters to roll out readers for electronic benefits cards and bank debit and credit cards, making transactions even more convenient for customers.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General announced that is honoring men and women who have served our country in the military with a special Veterans Day discount. On Friday, Nov. 11, all veterans, active duty military, National Guard and Reserve and their immediate families will receive a 10% discount at Dollar General stores. Shoppers at www.dollargeneral.com will also be eligible to receive 10% off their purchase Nov. 11 through Nov. 13 using the code VETERANSDAY at checkout.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General announced that it is going to head-to-head with toy retailers and discounters alike by offering more than 300 toys for $5 or less.

"Customers will find the toys their children want at great prices at Dollar General," said Todd Vasos, Dollar General's chief merchandising officer. "We've worked hard all year to bring our shoppers an exciting toy assortment this season. Our toy department features many new toys and twice the number of licensed toys compared to previous years."

Walmart is facing some stiff competion for toy sales with Dollar General, as the company announced that it is going to head-to-head with toy retailers and discounters alike by offering more than 300 toys for $5 or less.

One thing retailers learn, some of them the hard way, is to take no competitor lightly. Consider the case of Dollar General and a toy promotion it is running for the holidays.

On March 22, 2011, Canadian retailer tb!s The Bargain Shop named top American retail executive Beryl “Jack” Buley as its new president and CEO.  A week later, on March 29, I sat down with Buley to discuss his new position for our then-upcoming June/July issue.  Eight weeks later, he was dead.

As if escalating tensions with Target weren’t enough of a large format competitive concern for Walmart, Dollar General remains on a roll with its 9,641 value-oriented and conveniently located stores.

The company sounded like it lifted a line from Target’s August sales release earlier this week when it reported second quarter results that exceeded expectations due to an increase in customer traffic and average transaction size.

It’s been one extreme or another the past few weeks in the retail world. First, luxury retailers Tiffany and Saks reported strong sales and profits and then on Tuesday Dollar General results showed the low-end consumers have some spending power and a taste for its brand of discount retail.