Due to rock climbing, I spend a lot of time in poor rural areas (most recently, rural Tennessee). Dollar General has a few things going for them in these areas

Due to rock climbing, I spend a lot of time in poor rural areas (most recently, rural Tennessee). Dollar General has a few things going for them in these areas: 1. They seem to have very low staffing costs. Most stores seem to have at most 2 workers on staff at a given time (obviously this is higher in busier areas). 2. They seem to have no compunction about putting stores in pretty remote locations (example: [1]). This is probably enabled by having low staffing costs--a store doesn't have to make huge revenue if its costs are low. 3. They seem to have a very standard formula for new stores, which allows them to build them quickly. I've seen a flat lot with trees starting to grow in it, go to an open Dollar General in approximately 9 days. I can't imagine what sort of feats of organizational engineering allows that, but it has to be an advantage because it allows them to pivot into an area quickly. And I would imagine the non-descript buildings are fairly easy to sell, allowing them to pivot out of areas quickly as well. 4. Their competition in remote areas is usually gas stations. While DG isn't cheap compared to Walmart or Aldi, they're often about 2/3 the price of gas stations for a lot of items. [1] https://maps.app.goo.gl/3gwxaiNRtgqKiKJ28 https://maps.app.goo.gl/3gwxaiNRtgqKiKJ28