Merced to host Dollar General CEO for 10,000th opening

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Published on 03/27/2012 - 8:47 am

Written by Business Journal staff

Dollar General Market in Merced opens this weekend.The chairman and CEO of national retail chain Dollar General will be in Merced this weekend to celebrate the opening of the Tennessee-based company's 10,000th store.

It will also be the first Dollar General store to open in the Central Valley as part of the retailer's California expansion plan that includes 50 new stores and more than 1,300 jobs.

Currently, there are known plans for two Dollar General stores in the area — one in Fresno and Clovis. Another is in the works for Modesto. The Clovis location at Bullard and Minnewawa avenues opens in July and the Fresno location at Fruit and McKinley avenues opens in September, according to published reports.

But this Saturday, the spotlight will be in Merced where Rick Dreiling, Dollar General CEO, will join local officials to cut the ribbon on the Dollar General Market at 1729 W. Highway 140. The ceremony kicks off at 9 a.m.

It will be the fifth Dollar General to open in California. The first opened in the Inland Empire area of Southern California last month with three more in the pipeline for the region. A Bakersfield location also opened last month — four are planned for the area.

As part of the special milestone, an "exclusive art piece" will be unveiled to commemorate the 10,000th store, according to a news release. As part of the festivities, the first 500 customers will receive a free ham and tote bag filled with samples and coupons. Prizes including a 42-inch flat screen television, one-year supply of pet food, an iPad and two tickets to the American Idol results show on April 12 will be raffled.

Merced's Dollar General Market will include general merchandise along with a grocery section that will include fresh produce, dairy products, fresh meat, frozen food and more. Despite the name, the store doesn't adhere to strict pricing guidelines, said Anthony Chukumba, senior equity research analyst at BB&T Capital Markets in New York.

"Dollar General is a different animal than Dollar Tree or 99 Cents Only stores,” Chukumba said. “Dollar General sells for multiple prices; it is not constrained to that single price point.”

As part of its expansion, Dollar General is opening a distribution center near Bakersfield at the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center that will employ about 250 people when operations begin next month.

Based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., Dollar General trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DG. In the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, it reported increased sales of $4.19 billion and profit of $292.5 million, or 85 cents per share.