Walmart forecast disappoints, shares fall on consumer worries
Shares of Walmart dropped as much as 7% after the world’s largest retailer forecast sales and profit below Wall Street’s expectations.
- Dollar General will be closing 96 stores and 45 pOpshelf stores in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.
- Despite the closures, Dollar General’s net sales increased by 5% in fiscal year 2024.
- The company did not disclose the specific locations of the stores slated for closure.
Dollar General is closing 96 stores nationwide sometime in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, company officials said this week in an earning report.
In addition, another 45 stores operating under the pOpshelf brand also will be shuttered, with an additional six being converted into Dollar General locations.
Dollar General announced the store closings in its latest earnings report released on Thursday. During the three-month period that ended on Jan. 31, the discount chain conducted an “appropriate” evaluation of its store portfolio to determine current and future performance as well as operating conditions.
“While the number of closings represents less than 1% of our overall store base, we believe this decision better positions us to serve our customers and communities,” noted CEO Todd Vasos in the earnings statement.
In January, Dollar General closed 27 stores. At the time, the company predicted it would open 575 new stores in the U.S. during 2025.
Is the company struggling financially?
Fiscal 2024 net sales increased 5.0% to $40.6 billion compared to $38.7 billion in fiscal 2023, the company said in its earnings report.
Same-store sales increased 1.4% compared to fiscal 2023, reflecting increases of 1.1% in customer traffic and 0.3% in average transaction amount.
The company reported net income of $1.1 billion for fiscal 2024, a decrease of 32.3% compared to $1.7 billion in fiscal 2023.
How many stores does Dollar General operate in the US?
According to the earnings report, the chain operated 20,594 stores as of Jan. 31, 2025, up from 19,986 as of Feb. 2, 2024.
The company said it opened 725 stores during the last fiscal year and 987 the previous year.
In addition, Dollar General closed 117 stores last year and 105 the year before.
Will any closures take place in South Dakota?
The company did not specify which stores it planned to close.
Are there any pOpshelf stores in South Dakota?
No, the company operates stores in 21 states, mostly in the south and east and Kansas.
Where does Dollar General operate in South Dakota?
The company lists around 70 stores in South Dakota, including stores in Aberdeen, Briton, Clark, Clear Lake, Groton, Ipswich, Milbank, Redfield, Sisseton, Watertown, Waubay and Webster.
Alice Mannette contributed.
