Dollar General announced Thursday, March 12, 2026, that it plans to open nearly 450 new stores across the U.S. while remodeling about 4,250 locations and relocating 20 others.
The Tennessee-based company has been on an expansion spree in the last decade, adding more than 8,000 stores, taking the total store count to nearly 21,000. In FY 2025, it added a net of 299 new stores. Dollar General also reported record net sales in fiscal year 2025.
Approaching the 21,000-Store Mark
Dollar General will likely surpass the 21,000 store-count mark in fiscal year 2026. As of January 30, 2026, the company operated 20,893 stores. In fiscal 2025, it opened as much as 589 new stores, and closed 290, while it added a net of 608 new stores in FY 2024.
Dollar General has added more than 900 net new stores over the past two fiscal years, making it one of the fastest-growing retailers in the U.S.
Now the Goodlettsville-headquartered discount retailer plans to open approximately 450 new stores in fiscal year 2026, under the broader objective to execute a total of 4,730 real estate projects.
“Approximately 80% of our stores are in rural communities of 20,000 or fewer people, and we see substantial opportunities to continue growing our store count and serving new customers for many years to come. Importantly, these projects continue to be one of our best uses of capital and are an important part of our growth strategy,” Dollar General’s Chief Operating Officer Emily Taylor said during an earnings call.
The company will remodel nearly 2,000 stores via Project Renovate and 2,250 retail stores through Project Elevate, taking the total remodeling to 4,250 stores. In addition, Mexico will get 10 new stores, while roughly 20 stores will be relocated.
To support the expansion, remodeling, and relocation plans, Dollar General expects to spend between $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion in capital expenditures, according to SEC filing.
The company had a capital expenditure of $1.2 billion in FY 2025, with approximately $732 million spent on store improvements, upgrades, remodels, and relocations of existing stores.
“Looking ahead to 2026, we are excited about our plans to drive continued growth through a variety of initiatives designed to further enhance the customer experience, elevate our brand, drive greater enterprise-wide efficiencies, and extend our reach, all while creating long-term shareholder value,” said Dollar General’s Chief Executive Officer Todd Vasos.
Dollar General’s Record Sales
The company reported record net revenue of $42.7 billion for the fiscal year 2025. The net annual revenue saw a mid-single-digit rise of 5.2% from the previous year’s figure of $40.6 billion. The business has reported a net income/profit of $1.5 billion for fiscal 2025, an increase of 34.4% compared to $1.1 billion in fiscal 2024
However, the corporation failed to outnumber the highest net annual income of $2.66 billion, achieved in FY 2020. The surge in profits was largely steered by amplified demand, higher spending on essentials and exceptionally high discretionary spending due to the Covid-19-induced lockdowns and Federal stimulus package.
“We are pleased with our strong fourth quarter and fiscal year results, and I want to thank our employees for their unwavering commitment to serving others,” the CEO commented while declaring the results.
How Dollar General Achieved Record Annual Sales
The net annual sales were primarily driven by positive contributions from the new stores, and growth in same-store sales. Though the store closures partly counterbalanced the impact. Same-store sales rose 3%, aided by category-wide growth in seasonal, apparel, consumables and home products.
Dollar General is now looking to achieve a net sales growth in the range of 3.7 to 4.2%, which would translate into a net annual sale of nearly $4.45 billion for the fiscal year 2026, at the upper end of the estimate.
This could be possible if the company manages to return a same-store sales growth between 2.2% and 2.7%, while new stores contributing positively to the topline throughout the year.
Dollar General Q4 FY 2025 Highlights
Net sales for the fourth quarter ended January 30, 2026, were 5.9% higher as compared to $10.3 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The quarterly growth was also driven by the positive contributions from same-store sales and new stores.
- Net Sales: $10.9 billion
- Gross Profit: $606.3 million
- Net Profit: $426.3 million
The gross profit for Q4 of FY 2025 more than doubled, increasing 106.1%. This is mainly due to negative impact to the tune of $232 million, which was recognized in the fourth quarter of FY 2024, that effectively lowered the denominator.
The negative impact was related to “a store portfolio optimization review, primarily due to store closures and pOpshelf impairment charges,” the company said.
“Our fourth quarter performance was highlighted by a 4.3% increase in same-store sales and continued advancement of our key initiatives, which contributed to strong operating margin expansion and EPS growth that well exceeded our expectations. Overall, this momentum reflects the progress we’ve made with our strategy and the continued relevance of our unique combination of value and convenience, particularly in the thousands of rural communities we serve,” Todd Vasos added.
Dollar General’s Q4 net income jumped as much as 122.9% to $426.3 million for FY 2025, as against $191.2 million in Q4 of FY 2024. This was possible even after the company was subjected to a higher income tax rate of 21.8% as compared to 16.2% in the same quarter of last fiscal.
