Dollar General's humanitarian efforts bridge inner-city gap

Discount Store News, Dec 6, 1993 by Mary Ellen Kelly

Whether or not Dollar General's store/training program can be duplicated in other troubled communities is as yet unknown, but it certainly marks an important development not just for retailing, but for the redevelopment of impoverished urban settings.

A new kind of retail was born earlier this year that is expected to turn a profit while anabling individuals and a whole community to turn over a new leaf.

An innovative partnership among Dollar General, local government agencies, education groups and Nashville's Sam Levy housing project has built a new store and new opportunities for residents here in one of the most poverty-stricken areas of Nashville, Tenn.

In forging a partnership, Dollar General chairman Cal Turner Jr. brought the corporate mission statement to a new level, interpreting the corporate direction to embrace humanitarian excellence, or so it would seem from this unprecedented retail effort to support one Nashville community.

Dollar General is a 1,700-unit discounter that is committed to providing "neighborhood stores our customers count on for value in quality, basic merchandise," said Turner. But, in the case of the Sam Levy inner-city housing project, Turner provided not only the store and the merchandise values, but also the education, job training and child support the neighborhood needed in order to operate its first business.

Until last July, the impoverished and crime-ridden Sam Levy housing project located on the outskirts of Nashville had no stores. Few residents had jobs. Education levels were very low.

Dollar General, in partnership with Performance Learning, a job training organization, and government agencies, created a streamlined system that would enable the community members to help themselves.

Now, the first step Sam Levy residents need to take is to sit down to a literacy test to determine whether their individual proficiency level is sufficient to move directly into the Learning Center Basic Skills/Job Readiness class or a pre-program basic skills class.

When completed, the residents are eligible to enter the Dollar General Aprenticeship Program on first-come basis. The 15-week apprenticeship training is split between hands-on work in the store and classroom instruction in conflict management, productivity and other business-related topics.

As Turner succinctly phrased it during the ribbon cutting of its new unit, "Today we celebrate a Dollar General store and a classroom."

To date, 13 students have graduated, sais Scott Northcutt, vice president, human resources, many of whom are now in job interviews with area businesses. One student has been hired by Dollar General as the Sam Levy unit's assistant store manager. Another 20 Sam Levy residents are in some stage of the program while still others are on a waiting lists to become involved.

Despite initial fears, Northcutt confirmed that the store has had "no holdups, break-ins or vandalism," but seems to have created a bridge between local police and residents working in the store.

Whether or not this store/training program can be duplicated in other troubled communities is as yet unknown, but it certainly marks an important development, not just for retailing, but for the redevelopment of impoverished urban settings.

Turner has long been committed to helping Dollar General shoppers gain an education through involvement in the GED/Learn-to-Read program (which has already benefitted more than 25,000 Dollar General shoppers). However, the Sam Levy site presented a far greater challenge.

The Sam Levy housing project test is the sort of experiment that only a successful retailer can afford the time investment to undertake. Dollar General continues to outpace most of the discount store industry in terms of sales, profits and unit growth, and will become a $1 billion retailer by the end of the year. Annual sales jumped by 22% to $920.7 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 1993, while same store sales rose by double-digit percentages during each month of 1993. Record net earnings of $35.6 million last year reflected a 65.4% increase over the previous year.

More recently, Dollar General reported record sales of $272.6 million for the third quarter ended Oct. 31, 1993, up early 22% over the period in 1992. Same store sales for the month climbed by 11.5%. Operating income rose to $17.8 million, up nearly 24% over the previous year.

Dollar General's history of caring for its communities--especially in addressing illiteracy--is long standing, winning the company a Presidential Citation from Ronald Reagan as well as Discount Store News' Discounters In Service to the Community (DISC) award for 1991 efforts.

At a time when most of the discount industry is steadily trading up--and out--of no-frills necessities, Dollar General remains dedicated to creating an environment where basic merchandise cannot only be provided but afforded.