Dollar General to undertake chainwide renovations

Goodlettsville, Tenn. During Dollar General’s first-quarter conference call on Tuesday, the chain’s executives announced a new remodeling plan.

The decision follows the completion of five store remodels, which are already contributing to “a significant sales increase,” chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling said during the meeting.

The renovated stores will all be designed in the same vein as new stores, including new paint and wider aisles. The discount chain plans to remodel 250 to 300 stores this year, and open 450 new locations. Approximately 104 of these new stores opened their doors in the first quarter.

Remodels and new locations alike are expected to contribute to even more favorable earnings moving forward. For the quarter ended May 1, Dollar General’s sales were $2.78 billion, almost a 16% increase from the first quarter last year. Net income rose to $83 million from a mere $5.9 million for the same period a year ago, and same-store sales increased more than 13%.

At the end of the quarter, the chain operated 8,462 stores in 35 states.