Dollar General CEO raises main purple flag about shoppers

For months, economists and retailers have warned about the financial pressure dealing with lower- and middle-income shoppers. Higher earners, on the other hand, have largely been sheltered from the results of the rising prices of residing.

But that may be altering.

A growing quantity of CEOs and industry insiders, from retailers as diversified as Walmart and ThredUp, have said they’re seeing shifts in the habits of shoppers incomes $100,000 a yr or more. 

Dollar General’s CEO Todd Vasos is the newest to be part of that growing refrain. 

Dollar General sees a shift among high-income consumers

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Global Consumer and Retail convention, Vasos said it’s no longer the chain’s core shopper base (low- and middle-earners) who are feeling the financial pressure.

Instead, he says earners of all stripes are now feeling the pinch.

“What we’ve seen in this economy, and again, not a surprise probably to anybody in this room, is we’ve seen a customer across all cohorts of income levels being somewhat distressed, especially in sustained inflation,” Vasos said.

“The interesting thing with this economy, because of the other sustained headwinds of inflation over the years that have passed, [is that] even that middle to upper middle is acting more like a lower-income shopper these days,” he continued. 

Vasos said the company was even listening to from consumers in the $100,000+ bracket that they no longer felt as though they were high-income, due to elements such as the rising price of residing, inflated gasoline costs, and stagnating wages.

As a consequence, the CEO says they’ve become more worth searching for than ever, buying at low cost retailers like Dollar General for necessities. 

This is not the first time Vasos has spoken out about the financial health of Dollar General’s consumers.

During the retailer’s second-quarter earnings call in late August, he instructed buyers that the chain’s core shoppers were in “distress” and “definitely still stretched.”

Dollar General finds alternative in trade-down consumers

Despite these financial challenges, Dollar General is not fearful about the state of its business. 

Instead, executives are assured that its proximity to consumers and its worth proposition will keep it afloat whether budgets stay tight or the financial tides flip.

“We’re very convenient, right?,” Vasos said at the Goldman Sachs occasion. “We’re close — we’re within 5 miles of 75% of the U.S. population. Many of our customers ride a bike to our stores or walk to our stores. That’s how close they are.”

The distance piece alone makes Dollar General many shoppers’ first alternative, Vasos continued. Especially if high gasoline costs are a concern and are inserting strain on family budgets. 

More Dollar General:

But should gasoline costs go down and financial pressures ease, the chain is not fearful that consumers, even high-earning consumers, will stop visiting.

“We have been in similar, of course, economic times historically,” Dollar General COO Emily Taylor said. “And if you look at our observe document of retaining the trade-in buyer, we’ve finished fairly properly.

“I think that finally comes from the truth that prospects who may not be as acquainted with Dollar General are stunned when they store us in phrases of the worth,” she continued. “They’re stunned when they store us in phrases of the breadth of assortment that we have accessible. And those issues stick long after perhaps the financial cycle modifications.”

Taylor also pointed to a handful of modifications Dollar General has made in latest years, including the skill to goal consumers with particular affords, as another method the retailer hopes to flip those trade-in consumers into long-term prospects.

Dollar General needs to make its costs tougher to beat

In light of the current economic situation, and the fact that a growing number of shoppers are relying on Dollar General, Vasos said the chain is placing a renewed focus on keeping prices low.

“The one factor that units Dollar General aside and now more than ever is that $1 price level,” he said. “Having 2,000 objects at or below $1 is very significant for the shopper, always has, but particularly in this setting.

“And not only are we cultivating that, but we’re growing that,” he continued. “We like [the $1 price point] so much and the consumer has. We’re actually going to put more of that in as we move through the back half of this year.”

According to a latest report from The New York Times, 16% of households report high ranges of financial stress, and 17% are in a “vulnerable” place.

That makes retailers like Dollar General more and more important for shoppers attempting to stretch already-tight budgets. And the retailer seems to be getting ready for that habits to persist.

It’s including more merchandise to its $1 assortment, betting that the demand for excessive worth will stick, even among consumers who once thought of themselves firmly outside Dollar General’s core buyer base.

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This story was initially revealed by TheRoad on Sep 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Retail part. Add TheRoad as a Preferred Source by clicking here.