People have been calling this the Wal-Mart Recession, the retail mega-giant being the surest sign of the recession over the last two years. I shake my head and laugh, because anyone who thinks we're being driven to Wal-Mart to shop doesn't shop at Wal-Mart and never did. America has been knocked down a rung to Dollar General, and that's where the big growth is in 2011...and a sign of our major problems.
Dollar General said Monday it plans to hire 6,000 workers this year as it looks to open 625 new stores across the country.
The discount retailer said the new stores will be spread across its current 35-state operating area as well as in three states where the retailer currently doesn't operate: Connecticut, Nevada and New Hampshire.
"Bringing our store model of convenience and value to more people in more states is an exciting opportunity for us," said Rick Dreiling, CEO of Dollar General, in a press release.
From 2009 to 2011, Dollar General has expanded its work force by 15,000 as it expands its locations.
So that's 21,000 new Dollar General jobs from 2009 through 2011.
What do you suppose Dollar General employees make? You figure your average Dollar General store has around 8 employees: a manager, 2 stock guys, 4-5 cashiers. All but the manager I'm betting are making minimum wage. Dollar General is doing enough with this business model, "When Wal-Mart Is Too Classy For Ya", to add over six hundred stores this year.
I've talked about the Dollar General Recession before back last February.
That's pretty damn scary. And yes, I've been in a Dollar General. There's one in walking distance of my apartment, 3 more within a short drive, and 2 more near where I work. The stores are relatively clean, there's just stacks of canned goods and other grocery items in open pallet boxes, nothing fancy. But the prices are the real draw. It's the convenience store version of Wal-Mart, and frankly if I need to run in someplace and grab a couple of 2-liters or some dish soap or something without the hassle of meeting half the county at the Super Enormous Wal-Mart on a Saturday, I'm all for that.
On the other hand, the jobs that Dollar General happens to be making aren't really high-paying. For every company like DG hiring 5,000 this year, there's Verizon cutting 13,000. You can't really sustain a middle class on an economy like that. It's the roll-down economy: The Macy's shoppers 5 years ago are shopping at Belk's now. The Belk's folks are at Target. The Target folks are at Wal-Mart, the Wal-Mart folks are dropping a rung to Dollar General.
Good for Target. Good for Wal-Mart. Really good for Dollar General, you figure another 600 stores in 2011 will get them to 10,000 outlets and 90,000 employees. Not so good for Macy's. Or the middle class.
The Dollar General Recession continues, and it will for some time to come.
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