Dollar General Store
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Dollar General corporate headquarters in Goodlettsville, Tennessee
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Formerly called
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J.L. Turner and Son |
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : DG S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Discount retailer |
| Founded | 1939 (as J.L. Turner and Son) 1968 (as Dollar General Corporation) |
| Founders |
James Luther Turner Cal Turner |
| Headquarters | 100 Mission Ridge, Goodlettsville, Tennessee, U.S. |
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Number of locations
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16,500 stores (June 2018) |
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Areas served
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Contiguous United States except for the Northwest |
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Key people
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Michael M. Calbert (Chairman) Todd Vasos (CEO) John W. Garratt (CFO) |
| Products | Clothing, cleaning supplies, home decor, health & beauty aids, pet supplies, toys, seasonal items, and grocery. |
| Revenue |
 $20.369 billion (2015) |
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$1.940 billion (2015) |
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$1.165 billion (2015) |
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| Total assets |
$11.258 billion (2015) |
| Divisions | Dollar General Market |
| Subsidiaries | Dolgencorp, LLC. Dollar General Financial Dollar General Global Sourcing Dollar General Literacy Foundation |
| Website | www |
Dollar General Corporation is an American chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of August 2017, Dollar General operated over 16,500 stores in 45 of the 48 contiguous United States (the exceptions being three states in the northwest: Idaho, Montana, and Washington).
The company first began in 1939 as a family-owned business called J.L. Turner and Son in Scottsville, Kentucky by James Luther Turner and Cal Turner. In 1968 the name changed to Dollar General Corporation and the company went public on the . Fortune 500 recognized Dollar General in 1999 and in 2018 reached #123. Dollar General has grown to become one of the most profitable stores in the rural United States with revenue reaching around $21 billion in 2017.
Dollar General has its origins in Scottsville, Kentucky from James Luther "J.L." Turner and his son Cal Turner. James Turner's father died in an accident in 1902 when James was only 11. James had to quit school and never completed his education so he could work the family farm and help provide for his mother and siblings. After two unsuccessful attempts at retailing, James became a traveling dry goods salesman for a Nashville wholesale grocer. James left the sales job after 10 years and settled his family in Scottsville, Kentucky. During the Great Depression, he began buying and liquidating bankrupt general stores. James' only child Cal Turner accompanied his father to these closeouts at a young age, gaining valuable business knowledge and skills.
In October 1939, James and Cal opened J.L. Turner and Son with an initial investment of $5,000 each. The switch to retailing resulted in annual sales above $2 million by the early 1950s. By the mid-1950s Turner had 35 department stores in Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1955 Cal Turner developed his idea of a retail store selling goods for a dollar, based on the Dollar Days promotions held at other department stores, by converting Turner's Department Store in Springfield, Kentucky into the first Dollar General Store. In 1964 J.L. Turner died leaving his son Cal Turner to succeed him.
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Wikipedia