Dollar General Investing $480M to Build 3 Distribution Centers

Discount retail giant Dollar General is undertaking a major logistics expansion, announcing plans to build massive distribution centers, each about 1M SF, in North Little Rock, AR; Aurora, CO and Salem, OR, representing a capital investment of nearly $480M.

The North Little Rock and Salem distribution centers will be designated as dual facilities, with handle both ambient and DG Fresh supply chain networks. In recent years, Dollar General stores have been adding freezer and cooler space in new and remodeled stores to facilitate refrigerated and frozen products, including fresh produce.

“We look forward to breaking ground on these new projects, which combine efficiencies of our DG Fresh and traditional supply chains,” said Tony Zuazo, Dollar General’s executive VP of global supply chain, in a statement.

Dollar General’s first ground-up dual distribution facility currently is under construction in Blair, NE. Dollar General fulfillment centers that already are operating with dual efficiencies and DG Fresh capabilities are located in Ardmore, OK and Zanesville, OH.

All three of the new fulfillment facilities will support the company’s growing private fleet. Which now encompasses 950 tractors and drivers and 25 private fleet sites. Dollar General provides on-the-job training for any employee interested in earning a Class A Commercial Driver’s License.

The discount retailer is aiming to have the DG Private Fleet represent 40% of its drivers by the end of the year.

The $140M North Little Rock dual distribution site—not far from the location of Dollar General’s first store, which opened in Arkansas in 1975—will break ground this fall and is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year, opening with an anticipated workforce of 300.

The $172M facility in Aurora is expected to break ground by the end of the summer and be completed in late 2023, with an anticipated workforce of 400.

Regarding the Salem distribution center, a $168M project, Dollar said in an announcement it expects to close on a site for the facility, which will employ 400, next month and begin construction in the fall. Dollar General currently has more than 80 stores in Oregon.

In choosing sites for its distribution centers, Dollar General said it considers the site’s proximity to DG stores, local business environments and local workforce availability, among other factors.

Dollar General supports the communities that are sites for its distribution centers with literacy programs through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, which awards financial resources each year to nonprofits, schools and libraries within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar Center store or distribution center.

The foundation has distributed more than $216M since its inception, the company said. With an HQ in Goodlettsville, TN, Dollar General currently operates more than 18,000 stores in 47 states.