DG Market opens in Tidioute

Photo courtesy of Dollar General
The exterior of a small DG Market is pictured.

A new DG Market is now open at 16030 Route 62 Tidioute as the chain continues its expansion.

The store is expected to employ between 10 and 15 people. A grand opening event will be held starting at 8 a.m. Saturday.

“We are excited to provide Tidioute residents with our new DG Market format and look forward to welcoming customers to our new location,” said Matthew Simonsen, Dollar General’s senior vice president of real estate and store development. “At Dollar General, we believe the addition of our new Tidioute store provides positive economic growth for the community through the creation of new jobs and career growth opportunities; increased accessibility to affordable products; the generation of tax revenue and access to Dollar General Literacy Foundation grants. We strive to provide a pleasant shopping experience to customers and looking forward to being a strong business partner and good neighbor.”

In the second quarter of 2024, Dollar General opened 213 new stores, remodeled 478 stores, and relocated 25 stores, part of a plan to open 730 new stores in 2024. That expansion includes pOpshelf stores and stores in Mexico. Another 1,620 stores will be remodeled, according to Dollar General’s August quarterly filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Tidioute store is a DG Market, a variety of Dollar General store that sells produce, meat and other food products. The expansion of DG Markets is part of Dollar General’s corporate push to expand its sales reach, according to its August SEC filing.

“Our “DG Fresh” initiative, a self-distribution model for frozen and refrigerated products that is designed to reduce product costs, enhance item assortment, improve our in-stock position, and enhance sales, has positively contributed to our sales and gross margin performance since we completed the initial rollout in 2021,” the filing’s management analysis states. “Moving forward, we plan to focus on additional optimization of the distribution footprint and product assortment within DG Fresh with the goal to further drive profitable sales growth.”

While Dollar General is expanding, it is facing financial pressure. The company’s second quarter financial disclosures showed net sales increasing 4.2% in 2024 compared to 2023, but operating profits decreased 20.6% in the second quarter of 2024 compared to 2023. The company reported net income of $374.2 million for the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 20.2% compared to $468.8 million in the second quarter of 2023.

Net sales growth, according to the second quarter financial data released in late August, was revised to 4.7% to 5.3%, compared to its previous expectation of approximately 6.0% to 6.7% while same-store sales growth was revised downward to 1.0% to 1.6%, compared to its previous expectation in the range of 2.0% to 2.7%.

“We made important progress on our Back to Basics plan in the second quarter,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s chief executive officer, in August. “However, despite advancing several of our operational goals and driving positive traffic growth, we are not satisfied with our financial results, including top line results below our expectations for the quarter. While we believe the softer sales trends are partially attributable to a core customer who feels financially constrained, we know the importance of controlling what we can control. With the evolving retail and consumer landscape in mind, we are taking decisive action to further enhance our value and convenience offering, as well as the in-store experience for our associates and customers.”

The company’s third quarter financial results will be released in early December.