"Through theend of November we have opened 703 stores,exceedingour target, and we expect to have opened 710 stores bytheend of the year," said David Perdue, chairman &CEO. Currently,Dollar General has 7,340 neighborhoodstores across the nation.

Moreover, the company now has 10 Dollar General Marketstoresopen. The Dollar General Market is a largerformat store that offersan expanded selection ofDollar General's core mix of merchandise,including abroader selection of refrigerated food items andfreshproduce. The new concept is expanding, and five more DGMarketstores will open by the end of the year andeight leases have beensigned for an opening earlynext year. "We continue to be veryencouraged by theresults of our Dollar General Market stores,"Perduesays.

However, Perdue expressed disappointment with thecompany'sfinancial performance during the thirdquarter. "First let me saythat I am personally notsatisfied with our sales performance or ourfinancialresults for the quarter," he says. "I am pleased,however,with our same store sales performance in thequarter relative to ourcompetitors, especiallyconsidering the impact of the currenteconomicenvironment on our core low-income consumer." Hepoints tohigh gasoline costs, unemployment andheating cost as having anegative impact on DollarGeneral consumers.