Dan Caplinger

Dollar General stores can feel cramped.

Sometimes the goods are disorganized.

It can be hard to find what you're looking for.

It used to be that at least the crowning jewel of the Dollar General was, you'd go in, you'd buy a certain number of things, you'd multiply by $1, and that's how much you were going to pay.

Those days are long gone.

Both Dollar General and pretty much every dollar store out there have succumbed to inflationary pressures, but also to the fact that they want to offer a broader mix of products.

Not everything you're going to buy at a dollar store like Dollar General is going to cost you a dollar, but in general, the value is there.

Not only that, but

Dollar General has quietly become one of the most ubiquitous chains in retail.

Anybody outside of a major metropolitan area can attest to the fact that oftentimes, it's those yellow signs and those dinky little box-shaped stores that are the most convenient place to go to get the things that you need.

Close to 21,000 stores in the U.S.

is going to put Dollar General on the top 10 list of a lot of retail chains worldwide for the number of locations.

It's got some great deals on things that people need more and more in ways that seemingly defy inflation and price pressures.

It's become the go-to place for a number of things that I get on a regular basis.

This from somebody who, three or four years ago, I wouldn't have set foot in that store, but it just makes economic sense now.

I think your skepticism is warranted by the fact that investors totally agreed with you in 2023 and 2024.

The bout of inflation in 2021 and 2022, it caused some problems at Dollar General.

They had some inventory issues, they had difficulty getting the inventory that they needed to keep consumers coming in the doors.

But what happened was Todd Vasos, who had been CEO, had stepped down in 2022.

He came back in 2023 and he basically said, look, what we were starting to do was not the right approach.