DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION

J.L. Turner and Son: 1939–1964

Dollar General has its origin in Scottsville, Kentucky, with James Luther "J.L." Turner and his son Cal Turner. During the Great Depression, James began buying and liquidating bankrupt general stores. Cal 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 (equivalent to $116,000 in 2025). 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 implemented 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. died and Cal succeeded him as the company CEO.

1968–2002

The company Cal Turner co-founded went public as Dollar General Corporation in December 1968, posting annual sales of more than $40 million and net income in excess of $1.5 million. In 1977, Cal Turner Jr., who joined the company in 1965, succeeded his father as CEO of Dollar General. In 1989, Cal Sr. retired as chairman and the company headquarters were moved to Tennessee. Under Cal Jr.'s leadership, the company grew to more than 6,000 stores and $6 billion in sales. In 1997 a distribution center was established in South Boston, Virginia.

In 2000, Dollar General opened a new corporate headquarters in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. By the end of 2000, sales at Dollar General exceeded $4 billion. The distribution center in Homerville, Georgia, was closed in April 2000 and operations were moved to a new distribution center in Alachua, Florida.

Cal Jr. retired in 2002 and was succeeded by David Perdue on April 2, 2003.

2003–present

Dollar General entered the grocery market with the establishment of Dollar General Market in 2003. In 2004, Dollar General expanded to low-cost Asian markets by opening a sourcing office in Hong Kong.

On June 21, 2007, Perdue announced his resignation, leaving David Bere as interim CEO. One month later, all shares of Dollar General publicly listed were acquired by private equity investors for $22 per share. An investment group consisting of affiliates of KKR, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Citigroup Private Equity, and other co-investors completed the acquisition of Dollar General Corporation for $6.9 billion.

As a part of the transition to a privately held company, Dollar General assessed each location at the end of its lease against a model known as "EZ Stores". This assessment included evaluating whether the location had a loading dock, garbage dumpsters, adequate parking, and acceptable profitability. Stores that did not pass this evaluation were relocated or closed. Over 400 stores were closed as part of this initiative.

On August 20, 2009, Dollar General filed for an initial public offering of up to $750 million, turning the company once again into a publicly traded corporation. In 2013, Dollar General started selling cigarettes in response to its competitor Family Dollar selling cigarettes beginning in 2012.

Dollar General's 12th distribution center opened on May 31, 2014, in Bethel, Pennsylvania, to serve the Northeast and Midwest stores. On August 18, 2014, Dollar General lodged a competing bid of $9.7 billion against Dollar Tree for Family Dollar. The bid was rejected on August 20, 2014, by the Family Dollar board, which said it would proceed with the deal with Dollar Tree.

On June 3, 2015, Chief Operating Officer Todd Vasos replaced Rick Dreiling as chief executive. Dreiling remained as senior advisor and chairman until his retirement in January 2016. Dollar General's 13th distribution center opened in San Antonio, Texas, on June 6, 2016, with a local investment of $100 million and the creation of over 500 jobs. In September 2015, the City Council in Janesville, Wisconsin, approved an agreement to bring a Dollar General distribution center to the town. The center created more than 500 jobs in the area and became the 14th Dollar General distribution center.

On September 15, 2016, Dollar General announced plans to hire 10,000 new employees and open 900 new stores in fiscal 2016 and 1,000 in fiscal 2017. As of August 2016, Dollar General operated 13,000 stores.

In January 2017, Dollar General opened a concept store in Nashville, Tennessee, called DGX. The DGX store focused on urban shoppers and was geared toward instant-consumption services such as coffee stations and soda fountains. The following month another DGX store opened in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in September a third DGX opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of May 2020, Dollar General operated 12 DGX locations in nine states.

In Jackson, Georgia, Dollar General opened its 15th distribution center in fall 2017 to serve stores in Georgia and the surrounding states. In 2017, Dollar General began construction for its 16th distribution center, in Amsterdam, New York. The distribution center was to cost $91 million and was expected to create 400 jobs in Montgomery County, New York. Dollar General planned to open 900 new stores in 2018. The distribution center became fully operational in 2019. Also in 2017, Dollar General acquired stores from Dollar Express LLC held by Sycamore Partners, a spinoff from the Family Dollar–Dollar Tree deal, and converted the store.

In September 2019, Dollar General celebrated the grand opening of its 16,000th store, in Panama City, Florida, following damage sustained from Hurricane Michael in October 2018. To commemorate the opening, Dollar General presented two $16,000 checks in partnership with Kellogg's to two local elementary schools displaced from the hurricane.

On December 5, 2019, Dollar General announced plans for fiscal 2020 that included the opening of 1,000 new stores, remodeling of 1,500 mature stores, and relocation of 80 stores. In February 2020, Dollar General announced plans to create 8,000 net new career opportunities in fiscal year 2020. Dollar General expanded to 46 states in 2020 with the addition of new stores in Wyoming in March and Washington in April.

In late May 2020, two Dollar General stores were destroyed by arson during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and three others had property damage.

In October 2020, Dollar General launched a new store concept known as Popshelf (stylized pOpshelf), which primarily focused on higher-margin, non-essential household goods including arts and crafts, home decor, health and beauty, electronics, toys, and seasonal specialty items (including party supplies). Most products would cost less than $5, with the stores primarily targeting "suburban moms" seeking "trendy" and "elevated" items. Dollar General planned to open 50 free-standing locations by the end of 2021, and 25 Popshelf store-within-a-store locations inside Dollar General Market stores

In April 2021, the company said it was planning to hire 20,000 employees, compared to 50,000 hired in 2020.

On 5 March 2022, Dollar General opened its first store in the state of Idaho, located in Athol.

On 12 October 2023, Dollar General announced the return of former CEO Todd Vasos, who replaced Jeff Owen. Chairman Michael Calbert said in a statement, “At this time the Board has determined that a change in leadership is necessary to restore stability and confidence in the Company moving forward".

By 2024, Popshelf had expanded to 200 locations. In September 2024, Popshelf's senior vice president Pooh Vichidvongsa stated that Popshelf would discontinue its store-within-a-store locations, saying that the demographics of Dollar General Market shoppers did not align with the target markets of Popshelf. The following month, Popshelf introduced an updated store format with additional product offerings, as well as a new loyalty rewards app.

In March 2026, Dollar General announced that Jerry W. “JJ” Fleeman Jr. would succeed Todd Vasos as CEO in January 2027. Vasos will remain as a senior advisor until April 2027. Fleeman is a 35-year veteran of Ahold Delhaize, and had been CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA since 2023.