Dollar General CEO: Shoppers are struggling

Dollar General CEO Jeffrey Owen said its shoppers are struggling.

Quarterly same-store sales were up 4.3%. However, sales of discretionary goods fell 8.5%. Traffic also declined.

“While we gained market share in nonconsumables again this quarter, our share in consumables was essentially flat as we believe the macro headwinds have had a disproportionate impact on our core customer," Owen said.

“And unfortunately, that impacted her even more than we expected and, quite frankly, more than she expected,” he said of the typical Dollar General shopper. “And so, in March, she simply pulled back. And, back half of March, we saw her pull back and really pull out of spending. The good news is in April, she started to return and she continues to return in May as well.”

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