Dollar General’s New Years Resolution? Open 700 More Stores

Dollar General opened its 11,000 store earlier this year, in Murfreesboro. Image: Dollar General

2014 will be another year of relentless growth for Goodlettsville-based Dollar General. The discount retailer plans to open 700 new stores.

Dollar General has opened hundreds of stores across the nation in the past three years. The key has been new software, allowing the company to pinpoint not only which neighborhood is ideal, but which block, and even which side of the street.

“Being able to go in and take a look at the demographics, being able to go in and look at traffic patterns,” CEO Rick Dreiling told investors on an earnings call last week. “How they flow, being on the ‘going home’ side. And it allows us to literally pinpoint where we can go.”

Dollar General hasn’t said yet where it will expand next year, but previous efforts have focused on the northeast and in California. The company says sales were up nearly 11 percent in the 3^rd quarter, to more than $4.4 billion. Dreiling says tobacco products, which Dollar General started selling this year, drove much of that growth.