Huge discount retailer closing over 100 stores nationwide | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

When Starbucks closes a few hundred stores every few years, it’s not a sign that the chain has a problem. Instead, it’s a routine housecleaning.

The chain, really every well-run chain, constantly evaluates its store portfolio. Sometimes, the economics on a certain location change, and it makes sense to close that store when its lease expires.

This happened on a wider basis after the Covid pandemic changed certain customer patterns. Many people stopped physically going into an office, and even after the pandemic, maybe they only returned part-time.

That made thousands of restaurants and coffee shops nationwide much less needed. They were built to serve those workers and once those workers disappeared, there often was not enough remaining business to support the store.

When stores close like this, it’s generally not big news because there’s a reason why the location shut down. In some cases, however, a store closing can be devastating for a community.

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If an area loses its only grocery store, that can create huge problems for people who live there. But even in areas where there are other options, losing a key discount player can hurt the community.

Residents having fewer choices means the remaining chains and stores in the area can charge more. That’s something many patrons of Dollar General cannot afford.

Dollar General plans to close nearly 100 of its namesake stores.

Image source&colon; Bloomberg/Getty Images

Dollar General closing locations

In some areas, Dollar General (DG) fills the role of grocery store for its customers. Many of the chain’s patrons have limited mobility options, and Dollar General might be the only retailer that sells food within walking distance.

The chain understands the important role it plays in many customers’ lives and has made choices to embrace that. That’s why thousands of Dollar General locations have added fresh produce — because their customers may not have easy access to it otherwise.

Dollar General does not take the decision to close stores lightly, but it still closes them when it makes sense for business. That’s something CEO Todd Vasos talked about during the chain’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

“As we look to build on the success of our back-to-basics work, we have undertaken a thorough review of our business to identify opportunities to further strengthen our foundation. With this in mind, we conducted a real estate portfolio optimization review of both our Dollar General and pOpshelf banners during the fourth quarter. As a result of the review of our Dollar General portfolio, we made the decision to close 96 stores,” he shared.

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Vasos shared why the company made this decision.

“While this is less than 1% of our overall store base, those stores, many of which are in urban locations, have become increasingly challenging to successfully operate. These stores likely would have been closed in the ordinary course of the store’s life cycle when their leases expired; however, we determined that closing these locations now will allow us to optimize our allocation of resources going forward,” he added.

Dollar General also closing PopShelf locations

In addition to its namesake brand, Dollar General also operates PopShelf, a rival to Five Below that sells low-priced household goods.

“We’re PopShelf. A stress-free shopping destination, just for you. We believe in bringing enjoyment back to shopping by making it easy to get things you need and fun to find things you want,” the company shared on its website. “We’ve got every reason to shop…from party supplies to DIY finds, surprises for the kids, trending beauty, and more.”

Dollar General also plans to close some PopShelf locations.

“I also want to discuss the results of our PopShelf portfolio review. After analyzing business performance and revised outlooks for our current portfolio PopShelf locations, we identified 51 store closure candidates based on financial and operational considerations from our test and learn phase, Vasos shared.

Some of the closing locations will be repurposed.

“We plan to convert six of these 51 locations to Dollar General stores and close the remaining 45 stores. This will leave 180 stores remaining as part of the PopShelf banner,” he added.

Dollar General, he insists, remains committed to PopShelf.

“As we enter 2025, we are optimistic about the PopShelf banner and our opportunity to drive improvements in our sales results as customers’ feedback on the brand and shopping experience continue to be strong,” he said.