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      Fast Facts

       

      Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based Dollar General Corporation is the nation’s largest small-box discount retailer. We make shopping for everyday needs simpler and hassle-free by offering a carefully edited assortment of the most popular brands at low everyday prices in small, convenient locations. Dollar General ranks among the largest retailers of top-quality brands made by America’s most-trusted manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills and Nabisco.

       

      • $9.5 billion in sales in fiscal 2007
      • 8,000+ stores in 35 states
      • 6,900 square-foot stores
      • 5,400 core products from America’s most-trusted manufacturers
      • 9 distribution centers
      • 71,500 employees

       

      Corporate Office

      100 Mission Ridge

      Goodlettsville, TN 37072

      (615) 855-4000

       

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      Dollar General Profile

       

      Our Mission

      In Dollar General, you'll find a company that embraces substance and simplicity. Our mission is to serve others. And, we think our customers are best served when we keep it real and keep it simple.

       

      We build and run convenient-sized stores to deliver everyday low prices on products that our customers want. We have successfully done so for many years.

       

      We deliver a smarter, easier shopping solution accessible to more consumers. Our goal is to provide our customers a better life and our employees opportunity and a great working environment.

       

      Our Model

      Dollar General stands for convenience, quality brands and low prices. Dollar General's successful prototype makes shopping a truly hassle-free experience. We design small neighborhood stores with carefully edited merchandise assortments to make shopping simpler. We don't carry every brand and size, just the most popular ones.

       

      Dollar General saves you time by staying focused on life's simple necessities: laundry detergent, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, socks and underwear...maybe a gadget or two that you just can't live without. The average Dollar General customer completes her shopping trip in less than 10 minutes.

       

      Our Culture

      For people entering the workforce for the first time, Dollar General stores provide an ideal foundation of basic work skills along with competitive wages and benefits. Experienced workers are drawn to the opportunity to grow with one of the fastest-growing retailers in America. Celebrating excellence is a hallmark of Dollar General's culture, whether you work in a store, a distribution center or at the store support center.

       

      Our Community

      We promote a spirit of involvement, and we carry Dollar General's mission to serve deep into the communities we call home. Through our charitable outreach, we strive for a real and lasting impact on individuals and their families.

       

      Literacy is the foundation for improving the quality of life for many Americans. Nationwide, more than 40 million adults can't read well enough to fill out a job application or read a book to their children. Inspired by one of the company's founders, who had only a third-grade education, Dollar General today helps thousands of individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency.

       

       

       

      The Founding Family

       

      founding family no text

      JL Turner (left) and his son Cal Turner (right) opened the first Dollar General in 1955.

         

      A novel idea in 1955 transformed a local enterprise into an industry leading discount retailer.

      When the first Dollar General store opened in Springfield, Ky., on June 1, 1955, the concept was simple – no item in the store would cost more than one dollar. The idea became a huge success and other stores owned by J.L. Turner and his son Cal Turner Sr. were quickly converted. By 1957, annual sales of Dollar General’s 29 stores were $5 million.

      The Turners did not reach this level of success without obstacles. James Luther (J.L.) Turner’s father died in an accident in 1902 when J.L. was only 11. J.L. quit school so he could work on the family farm and help provide for his mother and siblings. He never completed his education. J.L. knew his limited education demanded that he become a quick study of the world around him.

      After two unsuccessful attempts at retailing, J.L. became a traveling dry goods salesman for a Nashville wholesale grocer. J.L. left the sales job after 10 years and settled his family in Scottsville, Ky. During the Depression, he began buying and liquidating bankrupt general stores. J.L.’s only child, Cal Turner Sr., accompanied his father to these closeouts at a young age, gaining valuable business knowledge and skills.

      In October 1939, J.L. and Cal opened J.L. Turner and Son Wholesale with an initial investment of $5,000 each. Wholesaling quickly gave way to retailing – J.L.’s third and final attempt at retailing. The switch to retailing resulted in annual sales above $2 million by the early 1950s, and the rest is history.

      J.L. passed away in 1964. Four years later, the company he co-founded went public as Dollar General Corporation, posting annual sales of more than $40 million and net income in excess of $1.5 million. In 1977, Cal Turner Jr., who joined the company in 1965 as the third generation Turner, succeeded his father as president of Dollar General. Cal Turner Jr. led the company until his retirement in 2002. Under his leadership, the company grew to more than 6,000 stores and $6 billion in sales.

      Today, the company is a leading discount retailer with more than 8,000 stores in 35 states. The company remains true to the humble ethic of hard work and friendly customer service embodied by the founding family.

      The yellow Dollar General store sign is a popular symbol of value. Our convenient, everyday low prices model has survived and thrived through the decades. About a third of Dollar General’s merchandise still sells for a dollar or less. The simplicity that defined our past is the engine that drives our success today.

       

       

      Executive Management

       

      TITLE EXECUTIVE
      Chief Executive Officer: Richard W. Dreiling
      President and Chief Strategy Officer: David L. Beré
      Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer: David M. Tehle
      Division President of Store Operations and Store Development: Kathleen Guion
      Executive Vice President and General Counsel: Susan S. Lanigan
      Executive Vice President, Human Resources: Challis M. Lowe

       
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      Richard W. Dreiling, Chief Executive Officer
      Richard W. "Rick" Dreiling joined Dollar General in January 2008 as CEO. Since 2005 Dreiling had been with Duane Reade Holdings Inc. as chairman and CEO. Duane Reade is the leading drug store chain in the New York City metropolitan area.

       

      In 2003, prior to his tenure with Duane Reade, Dreiling served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Longs Drug Stores Corporation, a chain of retail drug stores on the West Coast and Hawaii. Before that, he was executive vice president of marketing, manufacturing and distribution of Safeway Inc. a food and drug retailer. Earlier still, he served as president of Vons, a southern California division of Safeway Inc.

       

      Dreiling earned a bachelor's degree in industrial relations from Rockhurst University in Missouri. He began his career in 1969 as a part-time clerk with Safeway Inc. in Kansas, where he worked his way through the retail ranks before being promoted to president of Vons in 1998. Dreiling serves on the board of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and the board of directors of Chain Drug Consortium, LLC. Dreiling was a finalist in Ernst & Young’s 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards for the Metro New York area. In October 2007, Dreiling received the Jacob K. Javits Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his efforts to raise awareness for the ALS Association and to support its work to find a cure for the disease. He was also a recipient of the 2006 Human Rights Award, given by the Jewish Labor Committee, in recognition of his efforts to promote the shared social justice agenda between the AJC and the trade union movement; he was honored again in October 2006 as their "Person of the Year."

       

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      David L. Beré, President and Chief Strategy Officer
      David Beré is president and chief strategy officer of Dollar General. He joined the company in December 2006 after serving as a director since 2002.

       

      Beré served from December 2003 until June 2005 as corporate vice president of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc., and as the president and chief executive officer of Bakery Chef Inc. a leading manufacturer of frozen bakery products acquired by Ralcorp Holdings in December 2003. From 1998 until the acquisition, Beré was the president and chief executive officer of Bakery Chef Inc. and also served on its board of directors. From 1996 to 1998, Beré served as president and chief executive officer of McCain Foods USA, a manufacturer and marketer of frozen foods and a subsidiary of McCain Foods Limited. He spent 17 years at The Quaker Oats Company, where he served as president of the breakfast division and the golden grain division.

       

      In 1983, he was appointed White House Fellow by President Ronald Reagan. Beré earned both his bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration from Indiana University.

       

       

      David M. Tehle, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
      Prior to joining Dollar General in June 2004, Tehle spent seven years with Haggar Corporation as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He has held leadership positions with several world leaders in manufacturing, including vice president of finance for The Stanley Works, Mechanics Tools Division, and vice president of finance and chief financial officer for Hat Brands Inc. Tehle gained 12 years of financial experience through management positions at Ryder System Inc. and through various financial and accounting positions at Texas Instruments Inc.

       

      Tehle earned a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

       

      He has served as a director of Jack in the Box Inc. since December 2004.

       

       

       

      Kathleen R. Guion, President of Store Operations and Store Development
      At Dollar General, Guion oversees more than 8,000 stores in 35 states.

       

      Before assuming her current role in April 2005, Guion served as executive vice president of store operations. Prior to joining Dollar General in October 2003, she served as president and chief executive officer of Duke and Long Distributing Company, a convenience store chain operator and wholesale distributor of petroleum products. Prior to that time, she was an operating partner for Devon Partners (1999 to 2000), where she developed operating plans and assisted in the identification of acquisition targets in the convenience store industry. Additionally, Guion served as president and chief operating officer of E-Z Serve Corporation (1997 to 1998), an owner/operator of convenience stores, mini-marts and gas marts. From 1987 to 1997, Guion served as the vice president and general manager of the largest division (Chesapeake division) of company-owned stores at 7-Eleven Inc., a convenience store chain. Other positions held by Guion during her tenure at 7-Eleven include district manager, zone manager, operations manager and division manager (Midwest division).

       

      Susan S. Lanigan, Executive Vice President, General Counsel
      Lanigan joined Dollar General in July 2002 as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary.

       

      Previously, Lanigan was senior vice president and general counsel with Zale Corporation, a specialty retailer of fine jewelry. Her legal experience also includes positions with Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and the law firm of Troutman Sanders.

       

      Lanigan received her undergraduate and juris doctorate degrees from the University of Georgia. Lanigan is a director on the board of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

       

       

      Challis M. Lowe, Executive Vice President of Human Resources
      Throughout her 30-year career, Lowe has been responsible for various business lines, including human resources, corporate communications, public affairs, administration services, information technology, quality management, commercial leasing operations, and commercial and consumer lending. She brings extensive experience in change management, as well as in the sale and integration of major businesses. Prior to joining Dollar General in September 2005, Lowe was executive vice president for Ryder System Inc., Beneficial Management Corporation and Heller International. She has also served as senior vice president of Sanwa Business Credit Corporation, and vice president of Continental Illinois Leasing Corporation and Continental Bank.

       

      Lowe earned her Master of Business Administation from Northwestern University, Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She is currently a director of The South Financial Group, a $14 billion regional bank. She previously chaired the board of trustees at Florida A&M University.