Dollar General Is Closing 141 Stores Amid Slumping Sales

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With inflation not letting up and the economy in a volatile state, so many of us are keeping our wallets close and being as budget-conscious as possible. So, you’d think dollar stores would be thriving right now. But at least for Dollar General, that’s not quite the case. The retailer recently revealed a weaker-than-expected 2025 forecast amid slumping sales, just as they announced that they’re closing 141 stores across the U.S. this year.

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Dollar General’s sales have been slumping for the past couple of years.

In a recent report, Reuters explains that Dollar General’s stock has dropped almost 70 percent over the past two years due to competition from Walmart, Temu, and Shein.

Unfortunately, the current economic climate is dealing yet another blow. The retailer says its customers, “who are typically from the lower-income groups earning less than $50,000 annually,” according to Reuters, are struggling to afford even basic necessities.

“What has become apparent as we move into Q1 is trade down is back,” said Dollar General Corporation CEO Todd Vasos in a recent post-earnings report call. “Many of our customers report that they only have enough money for basic essentials with some noting that they have had to sacrifice even on the necessities. We are not anticipating (an) improvement in the macro environment, particularly for our core customer.”

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Dollar General is set to close 141 stores in 2025.

It’s not all bad news, however. Reuters reports that Dollar General’s stock actually rose 4 percent last week after its 2024 Q4 earnings, which included the holiday season, beat expectations. The outlet attributes this to Dollar General’s initiatives to remodel stores, trim inventory, and close underperforming locations. Now, even more stores will close in 2025.

According to a press release , the company announced that it would close 141 stores under its portfolio—96 Dollar General stores and 45 Popshelf stores. (The latter is more similar in inventory and shopping experience to Five Below than a traditional dollar store.) Additionally, six Popshelf locations will be converted to Dollar General stores.

To put this in context, Fast Company shares that there are currently a bit more than 220 Popshelf locations in the U.S.—meaning the closures will reduce their footprint by about 20 percent. Dollar General, on the other hand, has more than 20,000 locations.

“As we look to build on the substantial progress we made on our Back to Basics work in fiscal 2024, we believe this review was appropriate to further strengthen the foundation of our business,” said Vasos. “While the number of closings represents less than one percent of our overall store base, we believe this decision better positions us to serve our customers and communities.”

Dollar General has not released the locations of the stores on the chopping block, but the press release does state that they will close during the “first quarter of the 52-week fiscal year ending January 30, 2026 (‘fiscal 2025’).”

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But they’re also expanding.

Despite recent hurdles, Dollar General is confident that it will pull through. Therefore, they announced in the recent earnings call that they’re also moving ahead with the following expansion plans:

• Opening 575 new stores in the U.S. (and up to 15 in Mexico)
• Fully remodeling approximately 2,000 stores
• Remodeling approximately 2,250 stores
• Relocating approximately 45 stores

Big Lots Is Opening Remodeled Stores Next Month—Here’s Where

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If you’re confused about what’s going on with Big Lots , you’re definitely not alone. The discount retailer has been yo-yo-ing back and forth for several years about its closure plans. But here’s the latest: After being “saved” by liquidation firm Gordon Brothers Retail Partners in January, the plans suggested that between 500 and 600 of Big Lots’ remaining 870 locations would close. As for the remaining stores, they’re reportedly being remodeled, and these improved outposts will reopen in four waves, the first of which is set for April.

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It’s been a long road for Big Lots.

Big Lots first began closing stores in 2022 , but things really took a turn for the worst this past September when they filed for bankruptcy. There was a brief glimmer of hope when Nexus Capital entered the picture to buy the company, but that deal quickly fell through.

Then, just before the end of 2024, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners came in with another offer to buy Big Lots, and this one stuck. The deal stipulated that Gordon Brothers would sell off hundreds of store leases and transfer the remaining Big Lots locations and company assets to Variety Wholesalers, Inc.

Many Big Lots locations are still closing.

At the end of January , Gordon Brothers released its Phase I list of 496 Big Lots locations set to close, with the majority in Texas (72), New York (49), and Florida (44). “The new-to-market stores are primarily located in shopping centers across 47 states and range in size from 18,963 to 54,933 square feet,” Gordon Brothers wrote on their website at the time.

A week later, the list expanded by 150 additional locations in Phase 2 of the plan. As Best Life reported , we counted 544 total locations set to close, though other reports vary.

Stores on the chopping block have already commenced going-out-of-business sales. A banner on Big Lots’ website reads, “All Stores Closing! Final Days! Save Now 50%-80-% Off Entire Store.” A previous restructuring website has been taken down.

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Remaining Big Lots stores are being remodeled and reopened in four phases.

As for the lucky Big Lots stores that aren’t closing, Variety Wholesalers confirmed to Fast Company that they will reopen some of the roughly 200 stores that they acquired. This will happen in four phases between April and June.

Variety’s vice president of sales and marketing, Jeff King , told Fast Company that nine southern locations are currently being remodeled. They will have soft openings on April 10 with “new categories of merchandise.” The locations are:

• Mount Sterling, Kentucky
• Metairie, Louisiana
• Tupelo, Mississippi
• Pearl, Mississippi
• Asheboro, North Carolina
• Clarksville, Tennessee
• Gallatin , Tennessee
• Dickson, Tennessee
• Roanoke, Virginia