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Dollar General (DG) Offers Big Savings for Back-to-School Season

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As the back-to-school season approaches, Dollar General Corporation (DG - Free Report) stands out as a one-stop shopping destination, offering a comprehensive selection of school essentials to support students, parents and teachers. With more than 20,000 locations in 48 states, DG offers a wide variety of school supplies, ensuring quality and affordability. 

In these challenging economic times, budget-friendly options and convenience are paramount for consumers. Shareeka Meadows, the VP of Division Merchandise Manager for Stationery and Apparel at Dollar General, emphasized the store's commitment to providing great everyday values. Shoppers can find everything they need, from notebooks and pencils priced at $1 or less to value-priced backpacks and trendy "First Day of School" signs.

DG is also offering a special 30% discount on school supplies for verified teachers through Sep 6. Teachers can register and complete the verification process at DG's Teacher's Central to take advantage of this offer, helping them prepare for the new school year with significant savings.

To further enhance savings, customers can use DG Digital Coupons, which include a $2 discount on any qualifying school supplies purchase of $10 or more on select dates in July and August. These offers are available online and on the myDG App, where customers can load coupons and rewards for easy redemption at checkout. The app also allows in-store scanning to access pricing information and uncover additional deals.

In addition to the wide array of school supplies, DG offers trusted national brands like Crayola, BIC and Elmer’s, alongside its exclusive private labels such as iMagine and Office Hub. These products come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, ensuring customers get high-quality items at affordable prices.

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Wrapping Up

Dollar General remains a reliable shopping hub for the back-to-school season, providing essential supplies at unbeatable prices. With its extensive network of stores and user-friendly digital tools, DG makes it easy and affordable for everyone to get ready for the upcoming school year.

Stock Performance

Shares of Dollar General have declined 12.1% in the past three months against the industry’s rise of 12.8%. The discount retailer acknowledged challenges in its gross margin, highlighting a decrease of 145 basis points to 30.2% of sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2024. This was the fourth straight quarter of gross margin contraction. This decline was primarily due to increases in shrink and markdowns, a greater consumable sales mix and lower inventory markups. We expect the gross margin to decline 90 basis points in the second quarter of the current fiscal year.

Despite immediate margin pressure and a tough consumer environment, Dollar General remains a compelling growth story in the retail space. Thanks to its value-creating initiatives, defensive product mix and real estate growth strategy, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company has the capabilities to gain market share. Its commitment to better pricing, private label offerings, effective inventory management and merchandise initiative should drive sales. We remain encouraged by the host of initiatives such as DG Fresh, SKU rationalization, digitization and the expansion of private fleets that should yield same-store sales improvements.

3 Picks You Can’t Miss Out On

Here, we have highlighted three better-ranked stocks, namely Burlington Stores (BURL - Free Report) , Ollie's Bargain Outlet (OLLI - Free Report) and Ross Stores (ROST - Free Report) .

Burlington Stores is a nationally recognized off-price retailer of high-quality, branded apparel, footwear, accessories and merchandise for the home at everyday low prices. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). BURL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 21.7%, on average.  You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Burlington Stores’ current financial-year sales and earnings suggests growth of 9.5% and 25.4%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers.

Ollie's Bargain, the extreme-value retailer of brand-name merchandise, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). OLLI has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.4%, on average. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ollie's Bargain’s current financial-year sales and earnings implies growth of around 8% and 12%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers.

Ross Stores, one of the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chains, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. ROST has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.6%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ross Stores’ current financial-year sales and earnings calls for growth of around 4.1% and 7.4%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers.

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