Delivering value as a prime focus

Dave D’Arezzo, EVP and chief merchandising officer, Dollar General

Most of the products and brands sold in a Dollar General store can be found in any number of competing drug, supermarket, club and mass merchandise stores. So what draws millions of loyal customers back to its more than 11,500 locations every day?



It’s the knowledge that they’ll find the basic household and personal necessities they need at prices they can afford, day in and day out, said Dollar General’s top merchant. And with the company’s core customer base drawn from households earning less than $50,000 a year — in many cases much less — the ability to provide name brands and quality private-label brands at affordable prices is critical to the success of both Dollar General and its vendors.

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“Our key mission,” said Dave D’Arezzo, EVP and chief merchandising officer, “is delivering value every day to our customers.”



That means that both Dollar General and its suppliers “have got to be committed to cost,” he declared. “We have 30 million people coming through our stores every week, and we see ourselves as their buying agent.”



“We’re out there trying to deliver affordable products,” added D’Arezzo, who joined the retailer in November 2013 to head all merchandising and marketing activities after serving in senior management roles at Grocers Supply Co., Duane Reade, Raley’s and Wegmans Food Markets. “So if you’re a supplier, you’ve got to be committed to finding ways to deliver affordable products to us that we can carry every day, year-round. We want to build the businesses that deliver ... everyday value to our customers.”



Dollar General’s merchandising team now expects three critical capabilities from its vendors, added general merchandise manager Larry Gatta. Besides the ability to deliver “affordable pricing,” he said, vendors “have got to know our customers and customer segmentations, and exactly how they live on a daily basis.”



Thirdly, vendors have to know “what creates the opportunity for segment growth,” said the GMM. “We’re not in an environment where we carry three brands of cake mix. We have one branded yellow cake mix. So we’re looking for new segment opportunities, for innovation that grows segments. We’ve got to concentrate on who our customer is.”