Dollar General announced on Tuesday plans to close 96 underperforming locations throughout the U.S. Despite the announcement, the company said it still plans to grow in 2025.
While it closes 96 stores, the company plans to open 725 new locations. All told, Dollar General expects to end 2025 with about 600 more stores than at the beginning of the year. The chain of discount general stores expects to have nearly 20,600 locations opened by the end of the year.
Dollar General had a net gain of 882 stores after opening 987 locations and closing 105.
“As we look to build on the substantial progress we made on our Back to Basics work in fiscal 2024, we believe this review was appropriate to further strengthen the foundation of our business,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s chief executive officer. “While the number of closings represents less than one percent of our overall store base, we believe this decision better positions us to serve our customers and communities.” Vasos indicated during a call with investors that many of these closings will occur in urban markets.
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“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,” he said. “These stores likely would have been closed in the ordinary course of the store’s lifecycle when their leases expired; however, we determined that closing these locations now will allow us to optimize our allocation of resources going forward.”
Although Dollar General said it is on solid financial footing, the company told investors that pending tariffs could become a “headwind” for attracting customers.
“Given the already stressed financial condition of our core customer, we are closely monitoring these and any other potential economic headwinds, including any changes to government entitlement programs. Importantly, we remain focused on doing everything we can to deliver the value our customers want and need,” Vasos said.
