Dollar General Just Announced a Major Store Change — and Shoppers Are Freaking Out

Many of those tried-and-true discount stores are making a lot of changes right now in an effort to cut costs and increase revenue Dollar Tree recently announced an expansion of their offerings with a price increase of $5 and even $7 for some items. Walmart announced major renovations to increase its product offerings. And now, Dollar General will be reducing the number of items you’ll see on shelves.

Dollar General announced it will be eliminating 1,000 unique items on shelves from their usual product lineup, reducing their current product lineup by 8%-9%, depending on the location. The discount retailer previously carried between 11,000 to 12,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) at its stores.

This news comes less than a year after Dollar General’s announcement to expand fresh grocery items in stores such as perishable items and produce, along with the brand’s typical offering of pantry staples. During a December 2023 earnings call, Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos announced over 5,400 stores have fresh produce offerings in stores, with a targeted 1,500 additional stores in 2024.

However, while this news seems fresh to the public, Dollar General executives have been open about reducing SKU offerings since the end of last year. This particular move is meant to simplify things in stores for employees and customers.

“Our merchant teams have focused on reducing activity for store teams by reducing the number of floor stands and monthly end cap resets and increasing the number of products that go straight to the shelf, all which saves time in our stores and enhances the customer experience,” Vasos explained in the December call.

Although the retailer will be offering less products on shelves, this doesn’t mean the fewer items will take a direct hit to the company’s success. Costco is famously known for keeping its SKU count low at stores (only offering 4,000 items at the company’s warehouses) yet still brought in over $6.29 billion last year.

Dollar General reported a 0.7% decrease in net revenue between 2022 and 2023, clocking in $2.41 billion, and is currently seeing a decline in sales year-over-year. Only time will tell if this discount store’s efforts to simplify stores and clean up shelves will pay off in the long run.