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Dollar General beats Street, but profit slides; ups forecast
Dollar General turned in mixed results for its second quarter, with gains in sales but a dip in profits and a decline in gross margins. Net sales rose 8.1% to $5.83 billion in the quarter ended Aug. 4, compared to $5.39 billion in the year-ago quarter, better than analysts were expecting. Same-store sales increased 2.6%, also better than expected, driven by increases in average transaction amounts and customer traffic. -
Warehouse club giant tops estimates in August
Costco Wholesale Corp. turned in a strong performance in August, helped by a big increase in online sales. Net sales rose 10% to $9.8 billion for the month of August, from $8.9 billion during the similar period last year. Total same-store sales rose 7.3%, higher than the 6.1% Wall Street expected. Same-store U.S. sales rose 7.4%, easily topping estimates for a 4.9% to 5.3% increase. Costco's comparable e-commerce sales jumped 26% in August.

