GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Dollar General (NYSE:DG) announced plans to build three new distribution centers in North Little Rock, Arkansas; Aurora, Colorado and Salem, Oregon. Collectively, the facilities are estimated to create up to 1,100 total career opportunities at full capacity and represent an approximately $480 million combined investment. Each state-of-the-art, approximately one million square foot facility will also support the Company’s growing DG Private Fleet presence.
“We look forward to breaking ground on these new projects, which will help us not only better serve our customers and communities, but also combine efficiencies of our DG Fresh and traditional supply chains,” said Tony Zuazo, Dollar General’s executive vice president of global supply chain. “We are fortunate to have created constructive relationships with Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Oregon Governor Kate Brown and their teams who understand the positive economic and labor benefits DG can bring when we invest in their local communities.”
At full capacity, Aurora and Salem facilities are each expected to create approximately 400 new jobs, and North Little Rock is expected to create 300. Career opportunities at each facility will be available online at www.dollargeneral.com/careers.
The North Little Rock and Salem distribution centers are expected to add to the Company’s growing number of dual facilities, which combines the capabilities of ambient and DG Fresh supply chain networks, and the Aurora facility will provide traditional functionalities. The Company’s first ground-up dual distribution facility is currently under construction in Blair, Nebraska, and facilities in Ardmore, Oklahoma and Zanesville, Ohio currently operate with dual efficiencies having recently added DG Fresh capabilities to support supply chain efficiencies.
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The North Little Rock dual distribution center facility represents an approximate $140 million investment in Pulaski County, and construction is currently slated to begin by fall 2022 with a late 2023 planned completion date. Management hiring is expected to begin in spring 2023 with warehouse team member recruitment currently scheduled to begin in fall 2023. Dollar General currently employs more than 4,300 Arkansas residents, having opened its first store in the state in 1975.
“With more than 18,000 stores across the U.S. and 500 stores in Arkansas, Dollar General supplies millions with easy access to affordable, everyday necessities,” Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said. “Dollar General’s choice of North Little Rock as the site for a new distribution center is more testimony to the strength of the relationships we have built nationally and our reputation as a business-friendly state.”
Aurora, Colorado
Dollar General plans to invest approximately $172 million in the Arapahoe County facility. The Company opened its first Colorado store 16 years ago in 2002 in Poinsett County and currently employs approximately 600 individuals in the state. Construction on the project is currently scheduled to begin in late summer 2022, with a late 2023 completion date. Management hiring is expected to begin in late spring 2023 with warehouse hiring to begin in fall 2023.
“Colorado continues to thrive and attract new business growth as our economy gets even stronger, so we are delighted that 400 new jobs are coming to Aurora through this expansion to help keep food and other everyday items on shelves and in stock for Coloradans,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis.
Salem, Oregon
Located in Marion County, the Dollar General Salem dual distribution center represents an approximate $168 million investment in the Pacific Northwest. Dollar General currently employs approximately 750 individuals in Oregon through more than 80 stores. The Company currently expects to close on the Salem distribution center property in August 2022 and begin construction by fall 2022.
DG Private Fleet Expansion
The planned new distribution facilities also enable the continued growth of DG Private Fleet, bringing new jobs to the communities in which Dollar General operates, and the ability to efficiently deliver goods to customers. The Company currently plans for the DG Private Fleet to represent 40 percent of its drivers by the end of fiscal year 2022. Since its inception in 2016, DG Private Fleet has grown to approximately 950 tractors and drivers and 25 private fleet sites.
Dollar General is proud to provide career advancement opportunities for workers within its DG Private Fleet, providing on-the-job training to any DG employee interested in earning their Class A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). Additional information on DG’s Private Fleet program and employees’ training program is available at https://careers.dollargeneral.com/private-fleet/.
Community Impact
Dollar General believes the addition of each distribution center represents positive economic impact in the communities it serves and takes several factors into consideration when choosing distribution centers sites including proximities to DG stores, local business environments and local workforces, among others.
Additionally, the Company is deeply involved in the communities it serves and seeks to advance and support adult, family, summer and youth literacy programs through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation (DGLF), which awards financial resources to nonprofit organizations, schools and libraries within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center each year. Since 1993, the DGLF has awarded more than $216 million to help more than 15.4 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education.
For additional information, photographs or items to supplement a story, please contact the Media Relations Department at 1-877-944-DGPR (3477) or via email at dgpr@dg.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking information, including statements regarding Dollar General’s strategies, plans and intentions, including, but not limited to, statements made within the quotation of Mr. Zuazo. A reader can identify forward-looking statements because they are not limited to historical fact or they use words such as “may,” “will,” “can,” “believe,” “plan,” “expect,” “estimate,” “aim,” “seek,” “opportunities,” “scheduled,” “slated,” “continue,” or “look forward,” and similar expressions that concern Dollar General’s strategy, plans, intentions or beliefs about future occurrences or results, including without limitation statements regarding planned investments, job creation and career opportunities, economic benefits, timing (for closing the purchase of the Salem, Oregon distribution center property, beginning and completing construction of all three distribution centers, and hiring timelines), and plans related to the North Little Rock, Arkansas, Aurora, Colorado and Salem, Oregon, distribution centers, as well as the Company’s private fleet.
These matters involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual performance of Dollar General to differ materially from that which Dollar General expected. Many of these statements are derived from Dollar General’s operating budgets and forecasts as of the date of this release, which are based on many detailed assumptions that Dollar General believes are reasonable. However, it is very difficult to predict the effect of known factors on Dollar General’s future results, and Dollar General cannot anticipate all factors that could affect future results that may be important to an investor. All forward-looking information should be evaluated in the context of these risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those factors disclosed under “Risk Factors” in Dollar General’s Annual Report on Form 10-K most recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to failure to close or timely close on the purchase of the Salem, Oregon distribution center property, failure to receive all required governmental permits and development approvals, and:
- risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated governmental responses, including but not limited to, the effects on the Company’s supply chain, distribution network, store and distribution center growth, store and distribution center closures, transportation and distribution costs, SG&A expenses, share repurchase activity, and cybersecurity risk profile, as well as the effects on domestic and foreign economies, the global supply chain, labor availability, and customers’ spending patterns;
- economic factors, including but not limited to employment levels; inflation; pandemics; higher fuel, energy, healthcare and housing costs, interest rates, consumer debt levels, and tax rates; tax law changes that negatively affect credits and refunds; lack of available credit; decreases in, or elimination of, government stimulus programs or subsidies such as unemployment, food/nutrition assistance programs, and the Child Tax Credit; commodity rates; transportation, lease and insurance costs; wage rates (including the heightened possibility of increased federal, state and/or local minimum wage rates); foreign exchange rate fluctuations; measures or events that create barriers to or increase the costs of international trade (including increased import duties or tariffs); and changes in laws and regulations and their effect on, as applicable, customer spending and disposable income, the Company’s ability to execute its strategies and initiatives, the Company’s cost of goods sold, the Company’s SG&A expenses (including real estate costs), and the Company’s sales and profitability;
- failure to achieve or sustain the Company’s strategies and initiatives, including those relating to merchandising, real estate and new store development, international expansion, store formats and concepts, digital, marketing, health services, shrink, sourcing, private brand, inventory management, supply chain, store operations, expense reduction, technology, pOpshelf, DG Fresh initiative, Fast Track, and DG Media Network;
- competitive pressures and changes in the competitive environment and the geographic and product markets where the Company operates, including, but not limited to, pricing, promotional activity, expanded availability of mobile, web-based and other digital technologies, and alliances or other business combinations;
- failure to timely and cost-effectively execute the Company’s real estate projects or to anticipate or successfully address the challenges imposed by the Company’s expansion, including into new countries or domestic markets, states, or urban or suburban areas;
- levels of inventory shrinkage;
- failure to successfully manage inventory balances;
- failure to maintain the security of the Company’s business, customer, employee or vendor information or to comply with privacy laws, or the Company or one of its vendors falling victim to a cyberattack (which risk is heightened as a result of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine) that prevents the Company from operating all or a portion of its business;
- damage or interruption to the Company’s information systems as a result of external factors, staffing shortages or challenges in maintaining or updating the Company’s existing technology or developing or implementing new technology;
- a significant disruption to the Company’s distribution network, the capacity of the Company’s distribution centers or the timely receipt of inventory, or delays in constructing, opening or staffing new distribution centers;
- risks and challenges associated with sourcing merchandise from suppliers, including, but not limited to, those related to international trade (for example, disruptive political events like the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine);
- natural disasters, unusual weather conditions (whether or not caused by climate change), pandemic outbreaks or other health crises, political or civil unrest, acts of war, violence or terrorism, and disruptive global political events (for example, the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine);
- product liability, product recall or other product safety or labeling claims;
- incurrence of material uninsured losses, excessive insurance costs or accident costs;
- failure to attract, develop and retain qualified employees while controlling labor costs (including the heightened possibility of increased federal, state and/or local minimum wage rates/salary levels) and other labor issues;
- loss of key personnel or inability to hire additional qualified personnel;
- risks associated with the Company’s private brands, including, but not limited to, the Company’s level of success in improving their gross profit rate;
- seasonality of the Company’s business;
- failure to protect the Company’s reputation;
- the impact of changes in or noncompliance with governmental regulations and requirements (including, but not limited to, those dealing with the sale of products, including without limitation, product and food safety, marketing or labeling; information security and privacy; labor and employment; employee wages and benefits (including the heightened possibility of increased federal, state and/or local minimum wage rates/salary levels); health and safety; imports and customs; bribery; climate change; and environmental compliance, as well as tax laws (including those related to the federal, state or foreign corporate tax rate), the interpretation of existing tax laws, or the Company’s failure to sustain its reporting positions negatively affecting the Company’s tax rate) and developments in or outcomes of private actions, class actions, multi-district litigation, arbitrations, derivative actions, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions or other litigation or of inquiries from federal, state and local agencies, regulatory authorities, attorneys general, committees, subcommittees and members of the U.S. Congress, and other local, state, federal and international governmental authorities;
- new accounting guidance or changes in the interpretation or application of existing guidance;
- deterioration in market conditions, including market disruptions, limited liquidity and interest rate fluctuations, or changes in the Company’s credit profile;
- the factors disclosed under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q; and
- such other factors as may be discussed or identified in this press release.
All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by these and other cautionary statements that Dollar General makes from time to time in its SEC filings and public communications. Dollar General cannot assure the reader that it will realize the results or developments Dollar General anticipates or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the consequences or affect Dollar General or its operations in the way Dollar General expects. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. Dollar General undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or circumstances, or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements included herein or that may be made elsewhere from time to time by, or on behalf of, Dollar General.
About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for more than 80 years through its mission of Serving Others. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, housewares and seasonal items at everyday low prices in convenient neighborhood locations. Dollar General operated 18,356 stores in 47 states as of April 29, 2022. In addition to high-quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America's most-trusted manufacturers such as Clorox, Energizer, Procter & Gamble, Hanes, Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg's, General Mills, and PepsiCo. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com.
