As regular readers of this blog may have noticed, I love getting a good deal, and Dollar General Stores have always been a popular stop for your friendly neighborhood blogger. Dollar General provides good value to the cost-conscious consumer.The past few years have seen the chain moving past their dime-store roots and emphasizing groceries and other consumables more and more in their nearly 7,000 conveniently-located stores nationwide to great success.
The progression has led to experimentation with larger stores with a full grocery layout. One of these experimental stores, called Dollar General Market, opened in Tennessee in 2003, and was such a success that the company began to roll them out to additional markets.
Dollar General Market’s first location near me is now open in the Dutch Inn Plaza in Collinsville, just north of Martinsville. Additional locations are planned all over Dollar general's market area, but no specific timetable has been released for their roll-out.
As you enter, the design of Dollar General Market is similar to Wal-Mart and other supercenters. Groceries are to one side and general merchandise is on the other. The general merchandise layout is very similar to traditional Dollar Generals, while the grocery layout is a cross between a typical grocery store and a warehouse club. The aisles are wider than the typical DG and the overall effect is a brighter, fresher store than you’d normally expect that is also easy to shop and convenient enough to use everyday.
Selection is limited on the grocery side to the essentials, with only one or two brands of any particular item, more often private-label than not. Though stores like Food Lion and Kroger offer more merchandise depth, the limited selection skews toward popular items, and the prices you pay for groceries at Dollar General Market tend to be lower than supermarkets and supercenters.
Dollar stores seem to be "the next big thing" in retail...if this move into groceries continues, it could change the industry. Wal-Mart better be paying attention.
ReplyDeleteOn the day I visited, Dollar General Market was doing a rather brisk business. Those shoppers would have normally been Wal-Mart shoppers, but they gravitated to the less expensive, more convenient alternative.
ReplyDeleteThe layout is very similar to Wal-Mart Supercenters and the prices were lower overall, though Dollar General tends to offer less selection overall.
I think if Wal-Mart faces a real retail challenge today, it is Dollar General.