Small format competition heats up

Walmart’s small format desires certainly haven’t gone unnoticed by the folks at Dollar General, a company that appears bent on saturating the marketplace with small discount stores. Last year, Dollar General opened 600 new stores and remodeled or relocated 504 other stores to end its fiscal year with 9,372 stores. This year, more of the same is planned with the expansion figure getting a bump to 625 new units, while the number of remodels and relocations expands to 550 units. If new store growth unfolds as planned by this time next year Dollar General will have roughly 10,000 stores in 35 states and even greater overlap with Walmart.

As the company noted in its press release announcing record annual sales of $13 billion no retailer in America has more store locations. The company also clearly states that it sells products from America’s most-trusted manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. If the strategy behind Walmart’s small-format initiative in rural areas is to combat the likes of Dollar General it’s got some catching up to do and Dollar General isn’t sitting still.