Dollar General to Hire 10,000 Workers

Dollar General Corp. said Friday that a rollout of new stores and distribution centers will lead to the creation of roughly 10,000 new jobs this year. The Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based discount store chain is expecting to open 1,000 new locations, along with two distribution hubs, adding new positions that will grow its staff by about 9 percent.

Total Retail's Take: Unlike sporting goods, dollar stores are a bright spot for the retail industry. In addition to Dollar General hiring 10,000 new workers, Dollar Tree announced in its most recent earnings call that net sales were up 48.9 percent year to date, and profit increased $1.58 billion year to date. Furthermore, these are businesses that rely on brick-and-mortar stores more heavily than other retail verticals, further bucking the trend that retail sales are moving online. Lastly, it's nice to see jobs being added to the retail industry (and economy in general) after news of store closures (Macy's, Sears) and companies going out of business have dominated the headlines so far in 2017 (The Limited, Wet Seal).