Dollar General's Express Unit too Garner Grocery Customers

When the Dollar store sector began selling fresh food Foodservice Solutions® team noted that it would be an more than an incremental sector game changer.  So last week when Dollar General announced that had opened an express store (DGX) with a focus on fresh food fast our team and regular readers of this blog were not surprised, rather we cheered its opening.

With a smaller footprint the 3,400 square-foot store filled with food including grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food in the form of Grab-N-Go food and beverages out team knew it would continue to garner customer adoption. 

In DGX Dollar General will attempt build on past success clues for growth and all indications more fresh food is the answer. It must be noted that between 2010 and 2015, according to research consulting firm Conlumino, annual dollar store sales increased from $30 billion to $45 billion, a 50% growth rate that far outpaced retail sales growth during the same period.

The fastest growing grocery store in the United States is Aldi.  Aldi is famous for saying “poor people most save, and rich people like to”.  I guess the Dollar General understands that as well. According to the NPD Group, one quarter of the shoppers at three of the top dollar store chains are millennials from households earning $100,000 a year or more.

Millennials are as time starved as any generation and they love the value and the quick convenience dollar stores offer. Dollar General has taken extra steps here by offering home décor, electronics and other upmarket offerings in the new DGX.

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food portioned for one or two that can be sold as meal components empowering mix and match meal bundling will be a success for Dollar General as long as they remember fresh, flavorful, fast make for fabulous food sales. 

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.