UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended February 1, 2019

 

Commission file number: 001-11421

 

DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

100 MISSION RIDGE

GOODLETTSVILLE, TN 37072

(Address of principal executive offices, zip code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (615) 855-4000

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒   No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐   No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒   No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒   No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☒

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b‑2 of the Exchange Act.

 

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the Registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐   No ☒

 

The aggregate fair market value of the registrant’s common stock outstanding and held by non-affiliates as of August 3, 2018 was $23.2 billion calculated using the closing market price of our common stock as reported on the NYSE on such date ($98.23). For this purpose, directors, executive officers and greater than 10% record shareholders are considered the affiliates of the registrant.

 

The registrant had 259,518,801 shares of common stock outstanding as of March 18, 2019.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

Certain of the information required in Part III of this Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be filed for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 29, 2019.

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

General

 

This report contains references to years 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014, which represent fiscal years ending or ended January 31, 2020, February 1, 2019, February 2, 2018, February 3, 2017, January 29, 2016, and January 30, 2015, respectively. Our fiscal year ends on the Friday closest to January 31. Our 2016 fiscal year consisted of 53 weeks, while each of the remaining years listed consists of 52 weeks. All of the discussion and analysis in this report should be read with, and is qualified in its entirety by, the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes.

 

Solely for convenience, our trademarks and tradenames may appear in this report without the ® or TM symbol which is not intended to indicate that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the right to these trademarks and tradenames.

 

Cautionary Disclosure Regarding Forward‑Looking Statements

 

We include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws throughout this report, particularly under the headings “Business,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Note 6 – Commitments and Contingencies,” among others. You can identify these statements because they are not limited to historical fact or they use words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “would,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “project,” “plan,” “expect,” “estimate,” “goal,” “seek,” “ensure,” “potential,” “opportunity,” “objective,” “intend,” “predict,” “committed,” “likely,” “continue,” “strive,” “aim,” “scheduled,” “focused on,” or “subject to” and similar expressions that concern our strategies, plans, initiatives, intentions or beliefs about future occurrences or results. For example, all statements relating to, among others, our estimated and projected expenditures, cash flows, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity; our plans and objectives for, and expectations regarding future operations, economic and competitive market conditions, growth or initiatives, including but not limited to the number of planned store openings, remodels and relocations, store formats, progress of merchandising and other initiatives, trends in sales of consumable and non-consumable products, and level of future costs and expenses; potential future stock repurchases and cash dividends; anticipated borrowing under our unsecured revolving credit agreement and commercial paper program; potential impact of legal or regulatory changes and our responses thereto, including the potential impact of tariffs by the U.S. government; anticipated impact of new accounting standards; efforts to improve distribution and transportation efficiencies, including self-distribution, and anticipated timing of distribution center openings; or expected outcome or effect of pending or threatened litigation or audits are forward-looking statements.

 

All forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those which we expected. Many of these statements are derived from our operating budgets and forecasts, which are based on many detailed assumptions that we believe are reasonable. However, it is very difficult to predict the effect of known factors, and we cannot anticipate all factors that could affect future results.

 

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements are disclosed under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A and elsewhere in this document (including, without limitation, in conjunction with the forward-looking statements themselves and under the heading “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates”). All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by these and other cautionary statements that we make from time to time in our other SEC filings and public communications. You should evaluate forward-looking statements in the context of these risks and uncertainties and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. These factors may not contain all of the factors that are important to you. We cannot assure you that we will realize the results or developments we expect or anticipate or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the consequences or affect us or our operations in the way we expect. Forward-looking statements in this report are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation, and specifically disclaim any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

PART I

 

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

 

General

 

We are among the largest discount retailers in the United States by number of stores, with 15,472 stores located in 44 states as of March 1, 2019, with the greatest concentration of stores in the southern, southwestern, midwestern and eastern United States. We offer a broad selection of merchandise, including consumable items, seasonal items, home products and apparel. Our merchandise includes national brands from leading manufacturers, as well as our own private brand selections with prices at substantial discounts to national brands. We offer our customers these national brand and private brand products at everyday low prices (typically $10 or less) in our convenient small-box locations.

 

Our History

 

J.L. Turner founded our Company in 1939 as J.L. Turner and Son, Wholesale. We were incorporated as a Kentucky corporation under the name J.L. Turner & Son, Inc. in 1955, when we opened our first Dollar General store. We changed our name to Dollar General Corporation in 1968 and reincorporated in 1998 as a Tennessee corporation. Our common stock was publicly traded from 1968 until July 2007, when we merged with an entity controlled by investment funds affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., or KKR. In November 2009 our common stock again became publicly traded, and in December 2013 the entity controlled by investment funds affiliated with KKR sold its remaining shares of our common stock.

 

Our Business Model

 

Our long history of profitable growth is founded on a commitment to a relatively simple business model: providing a broad base of customers with their basic everyday and household needs, supplemented with a variety of general merchandise items, at everyday low prices in conveniently located, small-box stores. We continually evaluate the needs and demands of our customers and modify our merchandise selections and pricing accordingly, while remaining focused on increasing profitability, cash generation and returns for our shareholders.

 

Our long-term operating priorities remain: 1) driving profitable sales growth, 2) capturing growth opportunities, 3) enhancing our position as a low-cost operator, and 4) investing in our people as a competitive advantage.  For more information on these operating priorities, see the “Executive Overview” section of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, included in Part II, Item 7 of this report.

 

In 2018, we achieved our 29th consecutive year of positive same-store sales growth. We believe that this growth, which has taken place in a variety of economic conditions, is a result of our compelling value and convenience proposition, although no assurances can be given that we will achieve positive same-store sales growth in any given year.

 

Compelling Value and Convenience Proposition.  Our ability to deliver highly competitive prices in convenient locations and our easy “in and out” shopping format create a compelling shopping experience that we believe distinguishes us from other discount retailers as well as convenience, drug, grocery, online and mass merchant retailers. Our slogan “Save time. Save money. Every day!” summarizes our appeal to customers. We believe our ability to effectively deliver both value and convenience allows us to succeed in small markets with limited shopping alternatives, as well as in larger and more competitive markets. Our value and convenience proposition is evidenced by the following attributes of our business model:

 

 

 

 

Substantial Growth Opportunities.  We believe we have substantial long-term growth potential in the U.S. We have identified significant opportunities to add new stores in both existing and new markets. In addition, we have opportunities to relocate or remodel locations within our existing store base to better serve our customers. Our attractive store economics, including a relatively low initial investment and simple, low-cost operating model have allowed us to grow our store base to current levels and provide us significant opportunities to continue our profitable store growth strategy.

 

Our Merchandise

 

We offer a focused assortment of everyday necessities, which we believe helps to drive frequent customer visits, and key items in a broad range of general merchandise categories. Our product assortment provides the opportunity for our customers to address most of their basic shopping needs with one trip. We offer a wide selection of nationally advertised brands from leading manufacturers. Additionally, our private brand products offer even greater value with options to purchase products that we believe to be of comparable quality to national brands as well as value items, each at substantial discounts to the national brands.

 

Consumables is our largest merchandise category and has become a larger percentage of our total sales in recent years as indicated in the table below. Consumables include paper and cleaning products (such as paper towels, bath tissue, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, laundry and other home cleaning supplies); packaged food (such as cereals, canned soups and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar and flour); perishables (such as milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer and wine); snacks (such as candy, cookies, crackers, salty snacks and carbonated beverages); health and beauty (such as over-the-counter medicines and personal care products including soap, body wash, shampoo, cosmetics, dental hygiene and foot care products); pet (such as pet supplies and pet food); and tobacco products.

 

Seasonal products include decorations, toys, batteries, small electronics, greeting cards, stationery, prepaid phones and accessories, gardening supplies, hardware, automotive and home office supplies.

 

Home products include kitchen supplies, cookware, small appliances, light bulbs, storage containers, frames, candles, craft supplies and kitchen, bed and bath soft goods.

 

Apparel includes casual everyday apparel for infants, toddlers, girls, boys, women and men, as well as socks, underwear, disposable diapers, shoes and accessories.

 

The percentage of net sales of each of our four categories of merchandise for the fiscal years indicated below was as follows:

 

 

Our seasonal and home products categories typically account for the highest gross profit margins, and the consumables category typically accounts for the lowest gross profit margin.

 

The Dollar General Store

 

The typical Dollar General store is operated by a store manager, one or more assistant store managers, and three or more sales associates. Our stores generally feature a low-cost, no frills building with limited maintenance capital, low operating costs, and a focused merchandise offering within a broad range of categories, allowing us to deliver low retail prices while generating strong cash flows and capital investment returns. Our stores average approximately 7,400 square feet of selling space and approximately 75% of our stores are located in towns of 20,000 or fewer people. We generally have had good success in locating suitable store sites in the past, and we believe that there is ample opportunity for new store growth in existing and new markets. In addition, we believe we have significant opportunities available for our relocation and remodel programs.

 

Our store growth over the past three years is summarized in the following table:

 

 

Our Customers

 

Our customers seek value and convenience. Depending on their financial situation and geographic proximity, customers’ reliance on Dollar General varies from fill-in shopping, to making periodic trips to stock up on household items, to making weekly or more frequent trips to meet most essential needs. We generally locate our stores and plan our merchandise selections to best serve the needs of our core customers, the low and fixed income households often underserved by other retailers, and we are focused on helping them make the most of their spending dollars. At the same time, however, Dollar General shoppers from a wide range of income brackets and life stages appreciate our quality merchandise as well as our attractive value and convenience proposition.

 

Our Suppliers

 

We purchase merchandise from a wide variety of suppliers and maintain direct buying relationships with many producers of national brand merchandise. Despite our broad offering, we maintain only a limited number of items per category, allowing us to keep our average costs low. Our three largest suppliers each accounted for approximately 8% of our purchases in 2018. Our private brands come from a diversified supplier base. We directly imported approximately 6% of our purchases at cost in 2018.

 

We have consistently managed to obtain sufficient quantities of core merchandise and believe that, if one or more of our current sources of supply became unavailable, we generally would be able to obtain alternative

sources; however, such alternative sources could increase our merchandise costs and supply chain lead time, result in a temporary reduction in store inventory levels, reduce our selection, or reduce the quality of our merchandise, and an inability to obtain alternative sources could adversely affect our sales.

 

Distribution and Transportation

 

Our stores are currently supported by distribution centers for non-refrigerated merchandise located strategically throughout our geographic footprint. We also have a distribution center in Amsterdam, New York under construction which is expected to be completed in 2019. We lease additional temporary warehouse space as necessary to support our distribution needs. We also have purchased a cold storage facility, and we are testing the self-distribution of fresh and frozen products, an initiative which we call “DG Fresh.” We continually analyze and rebalance the network to ensure that it remains efficient and provides the service levels our stores require. See “—Properties” below for additional information pertaining to our distribution centers.

 

Most of our merchandise flows through our distribution centers and is delivered to our stores by third-party trucking firms, utilizing our trailers. We also own approximately 200 semi-trailer trucks with which we transport our merchandise. In addition, vendors or third-party distributors deliver or ship certain food items and other merchandise directly to our stores.

 

Seasonality

 

Our business is somewhat seasonal. Generally, our most profitable sales mix occurs in the fourth quarter, which includes the Christmas selling season. In addition, our quarterly results can be affected by the timing of certain holidays, and the timing of new store openings and store closings, and the amount of sales contributed by new and existing stores. We typically purchase substantial amounts of inventory and incur higher shipping and payroll costs in the third quarter in anticipation of increased sales activity during the fourth quarter. See Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements for additional information.

 

Our Competition

 

We operate in the basic discount consumer goods market, which is highly competitive with respect to price, customers, store location, merchandise quality, assortment and presentation, service offerings, in-stock consistency, customer service, promotional activity, employees, and market share. We compete with discount stores and many other retailers, including mass merchandise, warehouse club, grocery, drug, convenience, variety, online, and certain specialty stores. These other retail companies operate stores in many of the areas where we operate, and many of them engage in extensive advertising and marketing efforts. Our direct competitors include Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Big Lots, Fred’s, 99 Cents Only and various local, independent operators, as well as Walmart, Target, Kroger, Aldi, Lidl, Walgreens, CVS, and RiteAid, among others. Certain of our competitors have greater financial, distribution, marketing and other resources than we do and may be able to secure better arrangements from suppliers than we can. Competition has intensified and we believe it will continue to do so as competitors move into or increase their presence in our geographic and product markets and increase the availability of mobile, web-based and other digital technology to facilitate a more convenient and competitive customer online and in-store shopping experience.

 

We believe that we differentiate ourselves from other forms of retailing by offering consistently low prices in a convenient, small-store format. We believe that we are able to maintain competitive prices due in part to our low-cost operating structure and the relatively limited assortment of products offered. Purchasing large volumes of merchandise within our focused assortment in each merchandise category allows us to keep our average costs low, contributing to our ability to offer competitive everyday low prices to our customers. See “—Our Business Model” above for further discussion of our competitive situation.

 

Our Employees

 

As of March 1, 2019, we employed approximately 135,000 full-time and part-time employees, including divisional and regional managers, district managers, store managers, other store personnel and distribution center and administrative personnel. We have increasingly focused on recruiting, training, motivating and retaining employees, and we believe that the quality, performance and morale of our employees continue to be an important part of our success in recent years. We believe our overall relationship with our employees is good.

 

Our Trademarks

 

We own marks that are registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and are protected under applicable intellectual property laws. We attempt to obtain registration of our trademarks whenever practicable and to pursue vigorously any infringement of those marks. Our trademark registrations have various expiration dates; however, assuming that the trademark registrations are properly renewed, they have a perpetual duration. We also hold an exclusive license to the Rexall brand through at least March 5, 2026.

 

Available Information

 

Our Internet website address is www.dollargeneral.com. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this Form 10-K. We file with or furnish to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, proxy statements and annual reports to shareholders, and, from time to time, registration statements and other documents. These documents are available free of charge to investors on or through the Investor Information section of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with or furnish them to the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers, such as Dollar General, that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is http://www.sec.gov.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Investment in our Company involves risks. You should carefully consider the risks described below and the other information in this report and other filings that we make from time to time with the SEC, including our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. These risks are not the only risks we face. Our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity could also be adversely affected by additional factors that apply to all companies generally or by risks not currently known to us or that we currently view to be immaterial. We can provide no assurance and make no representation that our risk mitigation efforts, although we believe they are reasonable, will be successful.

Economic factors may reduce our customers’ spending, impair our ability to execute our strategies and initiatives, and increase our costs and expenses, which could result in materially decreased sales or profitability.

Many of our customers have fixed or low incomes and limited discretionary spending dollars. Any factor that could adversely affect their disposable income could decrease our customers’ spending or cause them to shift their spending to our lower margin product choices, which could result in materially decreased sales and profitability. Factors that could reduce our customers’ disposable income include but are not limited to high unemployment or underemployment levels; inflation; higher fuel, energy, healthcare and housing costs, interest rates, consumer debt levels, and tax rates; tax law changes that negatively affect credits and refunds; lack of available credit; and decreases in, or elimination of, government subsidies such as unemployment and food assistance programs.

Many of the economic factors listed above, as well as commodity rates; transportation, lease and insurance costs; wage rates; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; measures that create barriers to or increase the costs of international trade (including increased import duties or tariffs); changes in applicable laws and regulations; and other economic factors, also could impair our ability to successfully execute our strategies and initiatives, as well as increase our cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses (including real estate costs), and may have other adverse consequences that we are unable to fully anticipate or control, all of which may materially decrease our sales or profitability.

Our plans depend significantly on strategies and initiatives designed to increase sales and profitability and improve the efficiencies, costs and effectiveness of our operations, and failure to achieve or sustain these plans could materially affect our results of operations.

We have short-term and long-term strategies and initiatives (such as those relating to merchandising, real estate and new store development, store formats, digital, shrink, sourcing, private brand, inventory management, supply chain, store operations, expense reduction, and technology) in various stages of testing, evaluation, and implementation, which are designed to continue to improve our results of operations and financial condition. The effectiveness of these initiatives is inherently uncertain, even when tested successfully, and is dependent on consistency of training and execution, workforce stability, ease of execution, and the absence of offsetting factors that can influence results adversely. Many of these factors are made even more challenging by the diverse geographic locations of our stores and distribution centers and our decentralized field management. Other risk factors described herein also could negatively affect general implementation. Failure to achieve successful or cost-effective implementation of our initiatives could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The success of our merchandising initiatives, particularly our non-consumable initiatives and efforts to increase sales of higher margin products within the consumables category, further depends in part upon our ability to predict the products that our customers will demand and to identify and timely respond to evolving trends in demographic mixes in our markets and consumer preferences. If we are unable to select and timely obtain

products that are attractive to customers and at costs that allow us to sell them at an acceptable profit, or to effectively market such products, it could result in materially decreased sales and profitability.

We are currently testing a cold chain self-distribution initiative, which we refer to as our DG Fresh initiative, and also testing an initiative we refer to as Fast Track, which is designed to enhance our in-store labor productivity, on-shelf availability, and customer convenience. The success of our DG Fresh initiative further depends in part on our ability to effectively transition these distribution operations from our current service providers without business disruption, as well as on the availability of certain supply chain resources, including temperature-controlled distribution centers, refrigerated transportation equipment, and drivers. The success of our Fast Track initiative further depends in part on vendor cooperation, successful implementation and maintenance of the necessary technology, customer interest and adoption, and our ability to gain cost efficiencies and control shrink levels from the initiative.  

If we cannot timely and cost-effectively execute our real estate projects and meet our financial expectations, or if we do not anticipate or successfully address all of the challenges imposed by our expansion, including into new states or metro areas, it could materially impede our planned future growth and our profitability.

Delays in or failure to complete any of our real estate projects, or failure to meet our financial expectations for these projects, could materially adversely affect our growth and our profitability. Our ability to timely open, relocate and remodel profitable stores and expand into additional market areas is a key component of our planned future growth and may depend in part on: the availability of suitable store locations and capital funding; the absence of entitlement process or occupancy delays; the ability to negotiate acceptable lease and development terms, to cost-effectively hire and train new personnel, especially store managers, and to identify and accurately assess sufficient customer demand; and general economic conditions.

We also may not anticipate or successfully address all of the challenges imposed by the expansion of our operations, including into new states or metro areas where we have limited or no meaningful experience or brand recognition. Those areas may have different competitive and market conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our existing markets, as well as higher cost of entry and operating costs. These factors may cause our new stores to be less profitable than stores in our existing markets, which could slow future growth in these areas. In addition, many new stores will be located in areas where we have existing stores, which may result in inadvertent oversaturation and temporarily or permanently divert customers and sales from our existing stores, thereby adversely affecting our overall financial performance.

We face intense competition that could limit our growth opportunities and materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

The retail business is highly competitive with respect to price, customers, store location, merchandise quality, product assortment and presentation, service offerings, in-stock consistency, customer service, promotional activity, employees, and market share. We compete with discount stores and many other retailers, including mass merchandise, warehouse club, grocery, drug, convenience, variety, online retailers, and certain specialty stores. To maintain our competitive position, we may be required to lower prices, either temporarily or permanently, and may have limited ability to increase prices in response to increased costs, resulting in lower margins and reduced profitability.  Certain of our competitors have greater financial, distribution, marketing and other resources, and may be able to secure better arrangements with suppliers, than we.

Competition has intensified, and is expected to continue to do so, as competitors enter or increase their presence in our geographic and product markets and expand availability of mobile, web-based and other digital technologies. We remain vulnerable to the risk that our competitors or others could enter our industry in a significant way, including through the introduction of new store formats. Further, consolidation or other business combinations or alliances within the retail industry could significantly alter the competitive dynamics of the retail

marketplace and result in competitors with greatly improved competitive positions, as well as competitors providing a wider variety of products and services at competitive prices, which could materially affect our financial performance. Our ability to effectively compete will depend substantially upon our continued ability to develop and execute compelling and cost-effective strategies and initiatives. If we fail to respond effectively to competitive pressures and industry changes, it could materially affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

Inventory shrinkage may negatively affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We experience significant inventory shrinkage. Although some level of inventory shrinkage is an unavoidable cost of doing business, if we were to experience higher rates of inventory shrinkage or incur increased security or other costs to combat inventory theft, our results of operations and financial condition could be affected adversely. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in our efforts to reduce inventory shrinkage.

Our cash flows from operations, profitability and financial condition may be negatively affected if we are not successful in managing our inventory balances.

Our inventory balance represented approximately 53% of our total assets exclusive of goodwill and other intangible assets as of February 1, 2019. Efficient inventory management is a key component of our business success and profitability. We must maintain sufficient inventory levels and an appropriate product mix to meet our customers’ demands without allowing those levels to increase to such an extent that the costs to store and hold the goods unduly impacts our financial results or that increases the risk of inventory shrinkage. If we do not accurately predict customer trends or spending levels, or if we inappropriately price products, we may have to take unanticipated markdowns to dispose of the excess inventory, which also can adversely affect our financial results. We continue to focus on ways to reduce these risks, but we cannot make assurances that we will be successful in our inventory management. If we are not successful in managing our inventory balances, our cash flows from operations and financial condition may be negatively affected.

Failure to maintain the security of our business, customer, employee or vendor information could expose us to litigation, government enforcement actions and costly response measures, and could materially harm our reputation and affect our business and financial performance.

In connection with sales, we transmit confidential credit and debit card information which is encrypted using point-to-point encryption. We also have access to, collect or maintain certain private or confidential information regarding our customers, employees and their dependents, and vendors, as well as our business. Some of this information is stored electronically in connection with our e-commerce and mobile applications, some of which may leverage third-party service providers. Additionally, we may share information with select vendors that assist us in conducting our business. While we have implemented procedures and technology intended to protect such information and require appropriate controls of our service providers, cyberattackers could compromise such controls and obtain such information, as cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and do not always immediately produce signs of intrusion. Moreover, employee error or malfeasance or other irregularities could result in a defeat of security measures and compromise our or our third-party vendors’ information systems. If cyberattackers obtain customer, employee or partner passwords through unrelated third-party breaches, these passwords could be used to gain access to their information or accounts with us.

Because we accept debit and credit cards for payment, we are subject to industry data protection standards and protocols, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, issued by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. Nonetheless, we may be vulnerable to, and unable to detect and appropriately respond to, data security breaches and data loss, including cybersecurity attacks or other breaches of cardholder data.

A significant security breach of any kind experienced by us or one of our vendors, which could be undetected for a period of time, or a significant failure by us to comply with applicable privacy and information security laws, regulations and standards could expose us to risks of data loss, litigation, government enforcement actions, fines or penalties, credit card brand assessments, negative publicity and reputational harm, business disruption and costly response measures (for example, providing notification to, and credit monitoring services for, affected individuals, as well as further upgrades to our security measures) which may not be covered by or may exceed the coverage limits of our insurance policies, and could materially disrupt our operations. Any resulting negative publicity could significantly harm our reputation which could cause us to lose market share as a result of customers discontinuing the use of our e-commerce and mobile applications or debit or credit cards in our stores or not shopping in our stores altogether and could materially adversely affect our business and financial performance.

A significant disruption to our distribution network, the capacity of our distribution centers or the timely receipt of inventory could adversely affect sales or increase our transportation costs, which would decrease our profitability.

We rely on our distribution and transportation network to provide goods to our stores timely and cost‑effectively. Using various transportation modes, including ocean, rail, and truck, we and our vendors move goods from vendor locations to our distribution centers and our stores. Any disruption, unanticipated or unusual expense or operational failure related to this process (for example, delivery delays or increases in transportation costs, including increased fuel costs, carrier or driver wages as a result of driver shortages; a decrease in transportation capacity for overseas shipments; labor shortages; or work stoppages for slowdowns) could negatively impact sales and profits. Labor shortages or work stoppages in the transportation industry or disruptions to the national and international transportation infrastructure that lead to delivery delays or that necessitate our securing alternative labor or shipping suppliers could also increase our costs or otherwise negatively affect our business.

We maintain a network of distribution facilities and are moving forward with plans to build or lease new facilities to support our growth objectives and strategic initiatives. Delays in opening such facilities could adversely affect our financial performance by slowing store growth, which may in turn reduce revenue growth, or by increasing transportation costs. In addition, distribution-related construction or expansion projects entail risks that could cause delays and cost overruns, such as: shortages of materials or skilled labor; work stoppages; unforeseen construction, scheduling, engineering, environmental or geological problems; weather interference; fires or other casualty losses; and unanticipated cost increases. For these reasons, the completion date and ultimate cost of these projects could differ significantly from initial expectations, and we cannot guarantee that any project will be completed on time or within established budgets.

Risks associated with or faced by our suppliers could adversely affect our financial performance.

We source our merchandise from a wide variety of domestic and international suppliers, and we depend on them to supply merchandise in a timely and efficient manner. In 2018, our three largest suppliers each accounted for approximately 8% of our purchases. If one or more of our current sources of supply became unavailable, we believe we would generally be able to obtain alternative sources, but it could increase our merchandise costs and supply chain lead time, result in a temporary reduction in store inventory levels, and reduce the quality of our merchandise. An inability to obtain alternative sources could materially decrease our sales. Additionally, if a supplier fails to deliver on its commitments, we could experience merchandise out‑of‑stocks that could lead to lost sales and reputational harm. Further, failure of suppliers to meet our compliance protocols could prolong our procurement lead time, resulting in lost sales and adverse margin impact.

We directly imported approximately 6% of our purchases (measured at cost) in 2018, but many of our domestic vendors directly import their products or components of their products. Changes to the prices and flow of these goods for any reason, such as political unrest, acts of war, currency fluctuations, disruptions in maritime lanes, port labor disputes, and economic conditions and instability in countries in which foreign suppliers are

located, the financial instability of suppliers, failure to meet our standards, issues with our suppliers’ labor practices or labor problems they may experience (such as strikes, stoppages or slowdowns, which could also increase labor costs during and following the disruption), the availability and cost of raw materials to suppliers, increased import duties, merchandise quality or safety issues, transport availability and cost, increases in wage rates and taxes, transport security, inflation, and other factors relating to suppliers and the countries in which they are located or from which they import, often are beyond our control and could adversely affect our operations and profitability. While we are working to diversify our sources of imported goods, a substantial amount of our imported merchandise comes from China, and thus, a change in the Chinese leadership, economic and market conditions, internal economic stimulus actions, or currency or other policies, as well as trade relations between China and the United States and increases in costs of labor and wage taxes, could negatively impact our merchandise costs. In addition, the United States’ foreign trade policies, duties, tariffs and other impositions on imported goods, trade sanctions imposed on certain countries (particularly China), import limitations on certain types of goods or of goods containing certain materials from other countries and other factors relating to foreign trade and port labor agreements are beyond our control. These and other factors affecting our suppliers and our access to products could adversely affect our business and financial performance. If we increase our product imports from foreign vendors, the risks associated with these imports also will increase, and we may be exposed to additional or different risks as we increase imports of goods produced in countries other than China.

Product liability, product recall or other product safety or labeling claims could adversely affect our business, reputation and financial performance.

We are dependent on our vendors to ensure that the products we buy from them comply with applicable product safety and labeling laws and regulations and to inform us of all applicable restrictions on the sale of such products.  Nonetheless, product liability, personal injury or other claims may be asserted against us relating to product contamination, tampering, expiration, mislabeling, recall and other safety or labeling issues, including those relating to products that we may self-distribute through our DG Fresh initiative.

We seek but may not be successful in obtaining contractual indemnification and insurance coverage from our vendors. If we do not have adequate contractual indemnification or insurance available, such claims could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our ability to obtain indemnification from foreign vendors may be hindered by our ability to obtain jurisdiction over them to enforce contractual obligations. Even with adequate insurance and indemnification, such claims could significantly harm our reputation and consumer confidence in our products and we could incur significant litigation expenses, which also could materially affect our results of operations even if a product liability claim is unsuccessful or not fully pursued.

A significant change in governmental regulations and requirements could materially increase our cost of doing business, and noncompliance with governmental regulations could materially adversely affect our financial performance.

We routinely incur significant costs in complying with numerous and frequently changing laws and regulations. The complexity of this regulatory environment and related compliance costs are increasing due to additional legal and regulatory requirements, our expanding operations, and increased enforcement efforts. New or revised laws, regulations, policies and related interpretations and enforcement practices, particularly those dealing with environmental compliance, product and food safety or labeling, information security and privacy, labor and employment, employee wages, and those governing the sale of products, may significantly increase our expenses or require extensive system and operating changes that could materially increase our cost of doing business. Violations of applicable laws and regulations or untimely or incomplete execution of a required product recall can result in significant penalties (including loss of licenses, eligibility to accept certain government benefits such as SNAP or significant fines), class action or other litigation, and reputational damage. Additionally, changes in tax laws, the interpretation of existing laws, or our failure to sustain our reporting positions on examination could adversely affect our overall effective tax rate.

Litigation may adversely affect our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our business is subject to the risk of litigation by employees, consumers, suppliers, competitors, shareholders, government agencies and others through private actions, class actions, multi-district litigation, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions or other litigation. The outcome of litigation, particularly class action or multi-district litigation and regulatory actions, is difficult to assess or quantify. Plaintiffs in these types of lawsuits may seek recovery of very large or indeterminate amounts, and the magnitude of the potential loss may remain unknown for lengthy periods of time. In addition, certain of these lawsuits, if decided adversely to us or settled by us, may result in liability material to our financial statements as a whole or may negatively affect our operating results if changes to our business operations are required. The cost to defend litigation may be significant, and adverse publicity could harm our reputation, regardless of the validity of the allegations. As a result, litigation may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. See also Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements.

Our current insurance program may expose us to unexpected costs and negatively affect our financial performance.

Our insurance coverage reflects deductibles, self-insured retentions, limits of liability and similar provisions that we believe are prudent based on our operations. However, there are types of losses we may incur but against which we cannot be insured or which we believe are not economically reasonable to insure, such as losses due to acts of war, certain crimes, including employee crime, certain wage and hour and other employment-related claims and litigation, actions based on certain consumer protection laws, and some natural and other disasters or similar events. If we incur material uninsured losses, our financial performance could suffer. Certain material events may result in sizable losses for the insurance industry and adversely affect the availability of adequate insurance coverage or result in excessive premium increases. To offset negative insurance market trends, we may elect to self-insure, accept higher deductibles or reduce the amount of coverage. In addition, we self-insure a significant portion of expected losses under our workers’ compensation, automobile liability, general liability (including claims made against certain of our landlords) and group health insurance programs. Significant changes in actuarial assumptions and management estimates underlying our recorded liabilities for these losses, including expected increases in medical and indemnity costs, could result in materially different expenses than expected under these programs, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Although we maintain property insurance for catastrophic events at our store support center and distribution centers, we are effectively self-insured for other property losses. If we experience a greater number of these losses than we anticipate, our financial performance could be adversely affected.

Natural disasters and unusual weather conditions (whether or not caused by climate change), pandemic outbreaks, terrorist acts, and global political events could disrupt business and result in lower sales and otherwise adversely affect our financial performance.

The occurrence of one or more natural disasters, such as hurricanes, fires, floods, tornadoes and earthquakes, unusual weather conditions, pandemic outbreaks, terrorist acts or disruptive global political events, such as civil unrest in countries in which our suppliers are located, or similar disruptions could adversely affect our business and financial performance. Unseasonal or significant weather conditions can affect consumer shopping patterns or prevent customers from reaching our stores, which could lead to lost sales or higher markdowns. If these events result in the closure of one or more of our distribution centers, a significant number of stores, or our corporate headquarters or impact one or more of our key suppliers, our operations and financial performance could be materially adversely affected through an inability to make deliveries or provide other support functions to our stores and through lost sales. These events also could result in increases in fuel or other energy prices, a fuel shortage, store opening delays, the temporary lack of an adequate work force in a market, the temporary or long-term disruption of product availability in our stores, and disruption of our utility services or information systems. These events may also increase the costs of insurance if they result in significant loss of property or other insurable damage.

Material damage or interruptions to our information systems as a result of external factors, staffing shortages or challenges in maintaining or updating our existing technology or developing or implementing new technology could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We depend on a variety of information technology systems, including systems owned and managed by third-party vendors, for the efficient functioning of our business, including, without limitation, transaction processing and the management of our employees, facilities, logistics, inventories, stores and customer-facing digital applications and operations. Our technology initiatives may not deliver desired results or may do so on a delayed schedule. Additionally, such systems are subject to damage or interruption from power surges and outages, facility damage, computer and telecommunications failures, malicious code (including computer viruses, worms, ransomware, or similar), cyberattacks (including account compromise; phishing; denial of service attacks; and application, network or system vulnerability exploitation), software upgrade failures or code defects, natural disasters and human error. Design defects or damage or interruption to these systems may require a significant investment to fix or replace, disrupt our operations, result in the loss or corruption of critical data, and harm our reputation, all of which could materially adversely affect our business or results of operations.

We also rely heavily on our information technology staff. Failure to meet these staffing needs may negatively affect our ability to fulfill our technology initiatives while continuing to provide maintenance on existing systems. We rely on third parties to maintain and periodically upgrade many of these systems so that they can continue to support our business. We license the software programs supporting many of our systems from independent software developers. The inability of these vendors, developers or us to continue to maintain and upgrade these systems and software programs could disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations if we were unable to convert to alternate systems in an efficient and timely manner and could expose us to greater risk of a cyberattack. In addition, costs and delays associated with the implementation of new or upgraded systems and technology or with maintenance or adequate support of existing systems could also disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations and adversely affect our profitability.

Failure to attract, train and retain qualified employees while controlling labor costs, as well as other labor issues, could adversely affect our financial performance.

Our future growth and performance, positive customer experience and legal and regulatory compliance depends on our ability to attract, train, retain and motivate qualified employees, many of whom are in positions with historically high rates of turnover. Our ability to meet our labor needs, while controlling our labor costs, is subject to many external factors, including competition for and availability of qualified personnel, unemployment levels, wage rates, minimum wage laws, health and other insurance costs, changes in employment and labor laws or other workplace regulations (including changes in employee benefit programs such as health insurance and paid leave programs), employee activism, and our reputation and relevance within the labor market. If we are unable to attract, train and retain adequate numbers of qualified employees, our operations, customer service levels, legal and regulatory compliance, and support functions could suffer. In addition, to the extent a significant portion of our employee base unionizes, or attempts to unionize, our labor costs could increase. Our ability to pass along labor costs to our customers is constrained by our everyday low price model, and we may not be able to offset such increased costs elsewhere in our business.

Our success depends on our executive officers and other key personnel. If we lose key personnel or are unable to hire additional qualified personnel, our business may be harmed.

Our future success depends to a significant degree on the skills, experience and efforts of our executive officers and other key personnel. The unexpected loss of the services of any of such persons could adversely affect our operations. There can be no assurance that our executive succession planning, retention or hiring efforts will be successful. Competition for skilled and experienced management personnel is intense, and our future success will also depend on our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, and a failure to attract and retain new qualified personnel could adversely affect our operations.

Our private brands may not be successful in improving our gross profit rate and may increase certain of the risks we face.

The sale of private brand items is an important component of our sales growth and gross profit rate enhancement plans. Broad market acceptance of our private brands depends on many factors, including pricing, quality, customer perception, and timely development and introduction of new products. We cannot give assurance that we will achieve or maintain our expected level of private brand sales. The sale and expansion of these offerings also subjects us to or increases certain risks, such as: product liability claims and product recalls; disruptions in raw material and finished product supply and distribution chains; inability to successfully protect our proprietary rights; claims related to the proprietary rights of third parties; and other risks generally encountered by entities that source, sell and market exclusive branded offerings for retail. Failure to appropriately address these risks could materially adversely affect our private brand initiatives, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.

Because our business is somewhat seasonal, adverse events during the fourth quarter could materially affect our financial statements as a whole.

Primarily because of sales of Christmas-related merchandise, our most profitable sales mix generally occurs in the fourth quarter.  In anticipation of this holiday, we purchase substantial amounts of seasonal inventory, and if sales fall below seasonal norms or expectations it could result in unanticipated markdowns. Adverse events, such as deteriorating economic conditions, high unemployment rates, high gas prices, public transportation disruptions, or unusual or unanticipated adverse weather could result in lower-than-planned sales during the Christmas selling season, which in turn could reduce our profitability and otherwise adversely affect our financial performance and operating results.

Deterioration in market conditions or changes in our credit profile could adversely affect our business operations and financial condition.

We rely on the positive cash flow we generate from our operating activities and our access to the credit and capital markets to fund our operations, growth strategy, and return of cash to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. Changes in the credit and capital markets, including market disruptions, limited liquidity and interest rate fluctuations, may increase the cost of financing or restrict our access to these potential sources of future liquidity. Our continued access to liquidity sources on favorable terms depends on multiple factors, including our operating performance and credit ratings. Our debt securities currently are rated investment grade, and a downgrade of this rating likely would negatively impact our access to the debt capital markets and increase our cost of borrowing. As a result, disruptions in the debt markets or any downgrade of our credit ratings could adversely affect our business operations and financial condition and our ability to return cash to our shareholders. We can make no assurances that our ability to obtain additional financing through the debt markets will not be adversely affected by economic conditions or that we will be able to maintain or improve our current credit ratings.

New accounting guidance or changes in the interpretation or application of existing accounting guidance could adversely affect our financial performance.

The implementation of new accounting standards could require certain systems, internal process and controls and other changes that could increase our operating costs, and will result in changes to our financial statements. For example, the implementation of accounting standards related to leases, as issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, required us to make significant changes to our lease management and other accounting systems, and will result in a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.

U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business involve

many subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by our management. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or in underlying management assumptions, estimates or judgments could significantly change our reported or expected financial performance. The outcome of such changes could include litigation or regulatory actions which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

 

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

 

None.

 

 

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

 

As of March 1, 2019, we operated 15,472 retail stores located in 44 states as follows:

 

 

Most of our stores are located in leased premises. Individual store leases vary as to their terms, rental provisions and expiration dates. Many stores are subject to build-to-suit arrangements with landlords, which typically carry a primary lease term of up to 15 years with multiple renewal options. We also have stores subject to shorter-term leases and many of these leases have renewal options. A significant portion of our new stores are subject to build-to-suit arrangements.

 

As of March 1, 2019, we operated the following distribution centers for non-refrigerated merchandise:

 

 

We lease the distribution centers located in California, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Missouri and own the remaining distribution centers in the table above. Approximately 7.25 acres of the land on which our Kentucky distribution center is located is subject to a ground lease. As of February 1, 2019, we owned a cold storage and distribution facility of approximately 148,000 square feet and leased approximately 1,070,000 square feet of additional space to support our distribution needs.

 

Our executive offices are located in approximately 302,000 square feet of owned buildings and approximately 42,000 square feet of leased office space in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

 

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

The information contained in Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements under the heading “Legal proceedings” contained in Part II, Item 8 of this report is incorporated herein by this reference.

 

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

 

None.

 

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

 

Information regarding our current executive officers as of March 21, 2019  is set forth below. Each of our executive officers serves at the discretion of our Board of Directors and is elected annually by the Board to serve until a successor is duly elected. There are no familial relationships between any of our directors or executive officers.

 

 

Mr. Vasos has served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of our Board since June 2015.  He joined Dollar General in December 2008 as Executive Vice President, Division President and Chief Merchandising Officer. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in November 2013.  Prior to joining Dollar General, Mr. Vasos served in executive positions with Longs Drug Stores Corporation for seven years, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (February 2008 – November 2008) and Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer (2001 –  2008), where he was responsible for all pharmacy and front-end marketing, merchandising, procurement, supply chain, advertising, store development, store layout and space allocation, and the operation of three distribution centers. He also previously served in leadership positions at Phar-Mor Food and Drug Inc. and Eckerd Corporation.

 

Mr. Garratt has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since December 2015.   He joined Dollar General in October 2014 as Senior Vice President, Finance & Strategy and subsequently served as Interim Chief Financial Officer from July 2015 to December 2015.  Prior to joining Dollar General, Mr. Garratt held various positions of increasing responsibility with Yum! Brands, Inc., one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, between May 2004 and October 2014, holding leadership positions in corporate strategy and financial planning.  He served as Vice President, Finance and Division Controller for the KFC division and earlier for the Pizza Hut division and for Yum Restaurants International between October 2013 and October 2014.  He also served as the Senior Director, Yum Corporate Strategy, from March 2010 to October 2013, reporting directly to the corporate Chief Financial Officer and leading corporate strategy as well as driving key cross-divisional initiatives.  Mr. Garratt served in various other financial positions at Yum from May 2004 to March 2010.  He served as Plant Controller for Alcoa Inc. between April 2002 and May 2004, and held various financial management positions at General Electric from March 1999 to April 2002.  He began his career in May 1990 at Alcoa, where he served for approximately nine years.

 

Mr. Kindy has served as Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain since August 2018. He joined Dollar General as Vice President, Distribution Centers in December 2008, became Vice President, Transportation in May 2013, and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain in June 2015. Prior to joining Dollar General, Mr. Kindy had 14 years of grocery distribution management and 5 years of logistics and distribution consulting experience. He served as Senior Director, Warehouse Operations, for ConAgra Foods from November 2007 to December 2008.  Since beginning his career in July 1989, Mr. Kindy also held various distribution and warehouse leadership positions at Safeway, Inc., Crum & Crum Logistics, and Specialized Distribution Management, Inc., and served as a principal consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr. Owen returned to Dollar General in June 2015 as Executive Vice President of Store Operations, with over 21 years of previous employment experience with the Company.  Prior to his departure from Dollar General in July 2014, he was Senior Vice President, Store Operations.  Prior to August 2011, Mr. Owen served as Vice President, Division Manager.  From November 2006 to March 2007, he served as Retail Division Manager.  Prior to November 2006, he was Senior Director, Operations Process Improvement.  Mr. Owen served the Company in various operations roles of increasing importance and responsibility from December 1992 to September 2004.  Mr. Owen has served as a director of Kirkland’s Inc. since March 2015.

 

Mr. Ravener joined Dollar General as Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer in August 2008. He was promoted to Executive Vice President in March 2010.  As previously announced, Mr. Ravener plans to retire from Dollar General effective May 27, 2019.  Prior to joining Dollar General, he served in human resources executive roles with Starbucks Corporation from September 2005 until August 2008 as the Senior Vice President of U.S. Partner Resources and, prior to that, as the Vice President, Partner Resources—Eastern Division. As the Senior Vice President of U.S. Partner Resources at Starbucks, Mr. Ravener oversaw all aspects of human resources activity for more than 10,000 stores. Prior to serving at Starbucks, Mr. Ravener held Vice President of Human Resources roles for The Home Depot Inc. at its Store Support Center and a domestic field division from April 2003 to September 2005. Mr. Ravener also served in executive roles in both human resources and operations at Footstar, Inc. and roles of increasing leadership at PepsiCo, Inc.

 

Mr. Reiser has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer since July 2017.  Prior thereto, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Vitamin Shoppe, Inc., a multi-channel specialty retailer and contract manufacturer of vitamins, minerals, herbs, specialty supplements, sports nutrition and other health and wellness products, from July 2016 to July 2017, where he was responsible for leading merchandising, operations, end-to-end supply chain, information technology, real estate and construction, planning, pricing and merchandising operations. He also previously served as Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer from January 2014 to June 2016 and as Senior Vice President, Hardlines Merchandising from July 2013 to January 2014, for discount retailer Dollar Tree, Inc. (successor to Family Dollar Stores, Inc.). Prior to his employment with Family Dollar, Mr. Reiser was employed by Walmart Stores, Inc. for 17 years in a variety of roles, including Vice President, Merchandising, Health & Family Care of Sam’s Club from November 2010 to June 2013; Vice President, Operations & Compliance, Health & Wellness of Sam’s Club from May 2010 to November 2010; Divisional Merchandise Manager, Wellness, from May 2009 to May 2010; Senior Buyer Pharmacy/OTC of Sam’s Club from November 2006 to May 2009; Director, Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs from August 2002 to November 2006; Pharmacy District Manager from August 2000 to August 2002; and Pharmacy Manager from October 1995 to August 2000.

 

Ms. Taylor has served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel since March 2015.  She joined Dollar General as an Employment Attorney in March 2000 and was subsequently promoted to Senior Employment Attorney in 2001, Deputy General Counsel in 2004, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel in March 2010, and Senior Vice President and General Counsel in June 2013.  Prior to joining Dollar General, she practiced law with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., where her practice was focused on labor law and employment litigation.  She has also held attorney positions with Ford & Harrison LLP and Stokes Bartholomew. 

 

Mr. Wenkoff has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer since July 2017.  Prior thereto, he served as the Chief Information Officer (May 2012 – June 2017) and Chief Digital Officer (June 2016 – June 2017) of Franchise World Headquarters, LLC (“Subway”), the largest string of sandwich shops in the world, where he was responsible for global technology and digital strategy, execution and operations for the Subway brand and all of its restaurants. He also owned a Subway franchise in Southport, Connecticut from July 2015 until October 2017. Prior to joining Subway, he served as the Chairman of the Board and Co-President of Retail Gift Card Association, a member organization of diverse, closed loop gift card retailers committed to promoting and protecting the use of gift cards, from February 2008 to May 2012. He also served as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Independent Purchase Cooperative, Inc., an independent Subway franchisee-owned and operated purchasing and services cooperative, from May 2005 to May 2012, and as President of its subsidiary,

Value Pay Services LLC, from May 2005 to February 2011.  He was the founder and President of Stored Value Management, Inc., an independently owned program and consulting company, from January 2004 to May 2005 and the Vice President, Operations and Finance, as well as General Counsel of Ontain Corporation, a technology company focused on providing turn-key retail merchant solutions, from January 2000 to December 2004.  Mr. Wenkoff began his career in 1993 as an articled student, and then attorney with Douglas Symes & Brissenden and served in various legal positions, including General Counsel, with Pivotal Corporation from 1997 to 2000.

 

Ms. Elliott has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since December 2015.  She joined Dollar General as Senior Vice President and Controller in August 2005. Prior to joining Dollar General, she served as Vice President and Controller of Big Lots, Inc. from May 2001 to August 2005, where she was responsible for accounting operations, financial reporting and internal audit. Prior to serving at Big Lots, she served as Vice President and Controller for Jitney-Jungle Stores of America, Inc. from April 1998 to March 2001. At Jitney-Jungle, Ms. Elliott was responsible for the accounting operations and the internal and external financial reporting functions. Prior to serving at Jitney-Jungle, she practiced public accounting for 12 years, 6 of which were with Ernst & Young LLP.

 

 

 

 

PART II

 

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

 

Market Information

 

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “DG.” On March 18, 2019, there were approximately 2,556 shareholders of record of our common stock.

 

Dividends

 

We resumed the payment of quarterly cash dividends in 2015. Our Board of Directors most recently increased the amount of the quarterly cash dividend to $0.32 beginning with the dividend payable on April 23, 2019. While our Board of Directors currently expects to continue regular quarterly cash dividends, the declaration and amount of future cash dividends are subject to the Board’s sole discretion and will depend upon, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that the Board may deem relevant in its sole discretion.

 

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 

The following table contains information regarding purchases of our common stock made during the quarter ended February 1, 2019 by or on behalf of Dollar General or any “affiliated purchaser,” as defined by Rule 10b‑18(a)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:

 

 

 

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 

The following table sets forth selected consolidated financial and operating information of Dollar General Corporation as of the dates and for the periods indicated. The selected historical statement of income data and statement of cash flows data for the fiscal years ended February 1, 2019, February 2, 2018, and February 3, 2017, and balance sheet data as of February 1, 2019 and February 2, 2018, have been derived from our historical audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report. The selected historical statement of income data and statement of cash flows data for the fiscal years ended January 29, 2016 and January 30, 2015 and balance sheet data as of February 3, 2017, January 29, 2016, and January 30, 2015 presented in this table have been derived from audited consolidated financial statements not included in this report.

 

The information set forth below should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified by reference to, the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included in Part II, Item 8 of this report and the

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in Part II, Item 7 of this report. Certain financial disclosures relating to prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

This discussion and analysis should be read with, and is qualified in its entirety by, the Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto. It also should be read in conjunction with the Cautionary Disclosure Regarding Forward‑Looking Statements and the Risk Factors disclosures set forth in the Introduction and in Item 1A of this report, respectively.

 

Executive Overview

 

We are among the largest discount retailers in the United States by number of stores, with 15,472 stores located in 44 states as of March 1, 2019, with the greatest concentration of stores in the southern, southwestern, midwestern and eastern United States. We offer a broad selection of merchandise, including consumable products such as food, paper and cleaning products, health and beauty products and pet supplies, and non-consumable products such as seasonal merchandise, home decor and domestics, and basic apparel. Our merchandise includes national brands from leading manufacturers, as well as our own private brand selections with prices at substantial discounts to national brands. We offer our customers these national brand and private brand products at everyday low prices (typically $10 or less) in our convenient small-box locations.

 

We believe our convenient store formats, locations, and broad selection of high-quality products at compelling values have driven our substantial growth and financial success over the years and through a variety of economic cycles. We are mindful that the majority of our customers are value-conscious, and many have low and/or fixed incomes. As a result, we are intensely focused on helping our customers make the most of their spending dollars. Our core customers are often among the first to be affected by negative or uncertain economic conditions and among the last to feel the effects of improving economic conditions particularly when trends are inconsistent and of an uncertain duration. The primary macroeconomic factors that affect our core customers include the unemployment and underemployment rates, wage growth, fuel prices, changes in U.S. and global trade policy (including price increases from tariffs), and changes to certain government assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Additionally, our customers are impacted by increases in those expenses that generally comprise a large portion of their household budget, such as rent and healthcare. Finally, significant unseasonable or unusual weather patterns can impact customer shopping behaviors.

 

We remain committed to the following long-term operating priorities as we consistently strive to improve our performance while retaining our customer-centric focus: 1) driving profitable sales growth, 2) capturing growth opportunities, 3) enhancing our position as a low-cost operator, and 4) investing in our people as a competitive advantage.

 

We seek to drive profitable sales growth through initiatives aimed at increasing customer traffic and average transaction amount. As we work to provide everyday low prices and meet our customers’ affordability needs, we remain focused on enhancing our margins through effective category management, inventory shrink reduction initiatives, private brands penetration, distribution and transportation efficiencies (including a test to self-distribute fresh and frozen products, which we call “DG Fresh”), global sourcing, and pricing and markdown optimization. Several of our sales-driving initiatives are also designed to capture growth opportunities and are discussed in more detail below.

 

Historically, our sales of consumables, which tend to have lower gross margins, have been the key drivers of net sales and customer traffic, while sales of non-consumables, which tend to have higher gross margins, have contributed to more profitable sales growth and an increase in average transaction amount. Throughout 2018, our sales mix continued to shift slightly toward consumables, and, within consumables, slightly toward lower margin departments such as perishables and tobacco. While we expect some sales mix challenges to persist, certain of our initiatives are intended to address these trends, although there can be no assurance we will be successful in reversing them.

 

We continue to make progress on and invest in certain strategic initiatives that we believe will help drive profitable sales growth and capture long-term growth opportunities. Such opportunities include leveraging existing and developing new digital tools and technology to provide our customers with additional shopping access points and even greater convenience. Following an in-depth analysis, in 2018 we began testing a refreshed approach to our non-consumable product offerings. This non-consumables initiative is a merchandising strategy that offers a new, differentiated and limited assortment that will change throughout the year. As we look to roll out this initiative more broadly in 2019, our goal for this initiative is to continue to improve the shopping experience while delivering exceptional value within key areas of our non-consumable categories. In 2019, we also are testing two initiatives aimed at driving sales and enhancing our position as a low-cost operator, as discussed further below.

 

Tariffs currently in effect on products from China, as applied to both our direct imports and domestic purchases, did not have a material impact on our financial results in fiscal 2018. The recently postponed increase in tariff rates applicable to products from China, if ultimately implemented, as well as any other future increase in tariff rates or the expansion of products subject to tariffs, may have a more significant impact on our business and on our customers’ budgets. We continue to work to minimize price increases to our customers and to mitigate the potential sales and margin impact of current and potential future tariffs through various merchandising efforts. There can be no assurance we will be successful in our efforts to mitigate these impacts in whole or in part.

 

To support our other operating priorities, we remain focused on capturing growth opportunities. In 2018, we opened 900 new stores, remodeled 1,050 stores, and relocated 115 stores. For 2019, we plan to open approximately 975 new stores, remodel approximately 1,000 stores, and relocate approximately 100 stores for an approximate total of 2,075 real estate projects.

 

We continue to innovate within our channel and are able to utilize the most productive of our various store formats based on the specific market opportunity.  We expect that our traditional 7,300 square foot store format will continue to be the primary store layout for new stores, relocations and remodels in 2019. We expect approximately 500 of the planned 1,000 remodels in 2019 to use the higher-cooler-count store format that enables us to offer an increased selection of perishable items. In addition, our smaller format store (less than 6,000 square feet) allows us to capture growth opportunities in metropolitan areas as well as in rural areas with a low number of households. We continue to incorporate lessons learned from our various store formats and layouts into our existing store base with a goal of driving increased customer traffic, average transaction amount, same-store sales and overall store productivity.

 

To support our new store growth and drive productivity, we continue to make investments in our traditional distribution center network for non-refrigerated merchandise.  Most recently, we began shipping from our distribution center in Longview, Texas in January 2019. In addition, our distribution center in Amsterdam, New York is currently under construction, and we expect to begin shipping from this facility later in 2019.

 

We have established a position as a low-cost operator, always seeking ways to reduce or control costs that do not affect our customers’ shopping experiences. We plan to continue enhancing this position over time while employing ongoing cost discipline to reduce certain expenses as a percentage of sales. Nonetheless, we seek to maintain flexibility to invest in the business as necessary to enhance our long-term profitability.

 

In 2019, we will be testing “DG Fresh”, a self-distribution model for fresh and frozen products that is designed to enhance sales, reduce product costs, improve our in-stock position and enhance item assortment; and Fast Track, an initiative aimed at further enhancing our convenience proposition and in-stock position as well as increasing labor productivity within our stores. These and certain other strategic initiatives will require us to incur upfront expenses for which there may not be an immediate return in terms of sales or enhanced profitability.  

 

Certain operating expenses such as wage rates and occupancy costs have continued to increase in recent years. While we expect these increases to persist, certain of our initiatives and plans are intended to help offset these challenges, although there can be no assurance we will be successful in mitigating them.

 

Our employees are a competitive advantage, and we proactively seek ways to continue investing in them. Our goal is to create an environment that attracts and retains talented personnel, particularly at the store level, because employees who are promoted from within our company generally have longer tenures and are greater contributors to improvements in our financial performance. We believe our investments in compensation and training for our store managers have contributed to improved customer experience scores, higher sales and improved turnover metrics.

 

To further enhance shareholder return, we repurchased shares of our common stock and paid quarterly cash dividends throughout 2018. In 2019, we intend to continue our share repurchase activity, and to pay quarterly cash dividends, subject to Board discretion and approval.

 

A continued focus on our four operating priorities as discussed above, coupled with strong cash flow management and share repurchases resulted in solid overall operating and financial performance in 2018 as compared to 2017, as set forth below. Basis points, as referred to below, are equal to 0.01% as a percentage of net sales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Readers should refer to the detailed discussion of our operating results below for additional comments on financial performance in the current year as compared with the prior years presented.

 

Results of Operations

 

Accounting Periods. The following text contains references to years 2018, 2017, and 2016, which represent fiscal years ended February 1, 2019, February 2, 2018, and February 3, 2017, respectively. Our fiscal year ends on the Friday closest to January 31. Fiscal years 2018 and 2017 were 52-week accounting periods and fiscal year 2016 was a 53-week accounting period.

 

Seasonality.  The nature of our business is somewhat seasonal. Primarily because of sales of Christmas-related merchandise, operating profit in our fourth quarter (November, December and January) has historically been higher than operating profit achieved in each of the first three quarters of the fiscal year. Expenses, and to a greater extent operating profit, vary by quarter. Results of a period shorter than a full year may not be indicative of results expected for the entire year. Furthermore, the seasonal nature of our business may affect comparisons between periods.

 

The following table contains results of operations data for fiscal years 2018, 2017 and 2016, and the dollar and percentage variances among those years.

 

 

Net Sales. The net sales increase in 2018 reflects a same-store sales increase of 3.2% compared to 2017. Same-stores include stores that have been open for at least 13 months and remain open at the end of the reporting period. Changes in same-store sales are calculated based on the comparable calendar weeks in the prior year, and include stores that have been remodeled, expanded or relocated.  In 2018, our 14,283 same-stores accounted for sales of $23.9 billion. The increase in same-store sales primarily reflects an increase in average transaction amount