Culture of Values with Dollar General's Angela Martin

Summary

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The CPG Guys: "Culture of Values with Dollar General's Angela Martin"

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, hosts Peter V.S. Bond (PVSB) and Sri Rajagopalan visit Dollar General’s headquarters in Tennessee for an immersive tour of the company’s iconic "Hall of Values" with Angela Martin, Vice President of Customer Insights and Branding. The conversation explores how Dollar General’s culture of values anchors its mission to "serve others," delves into the company’s history, community impact, and employee development, and highlights the practical ways principles like integrity, fun, and inclusion guide every facet of Dollar General’s business.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Dollar General’s Origins and Values

• History and Founding

  • Originated in 1939 as J.L. Turner and Son Wholesale in Scottsville, Kentucky.
  • Transitioned from wholesaling to retail after WWII, with the first "Dollar General" store opening in 1955 in Springfield, Kentucky. The concept: “Every day is a dollar day.”
    • Quote: “What if we make every day dollar day?” — Angela Martin (19:42)
  • Growth rooted in serving cash-strapped rural customers—the community the Turners themselves knew intimately.

• Cultural Symbols

  • Headquarters decorated with black bear statues to promote workplace fun and personal development.
    • Quote: “Work is work, but you should also have fun at times doing that.” — Angela Martin (05:11)

• Mission Statement

  • Centered on "Serving Others"—customers, employees, shareholders, and communities.
    • Quote: “Serving others has been our…mission statement and values…since the 80s.” — Angela Martin (09:49)
    • Quote (Reading the statement): “Whether it's offering affordable access to quality products…creating jobs that grow into meaningful careers, or even investing in life changing educational programs, we strive to serve others.” — Angela Martin (31:31)

Community Connection & Accessibility

• Local Presence

  • 75% of Americans live within 5 miles of a Dollar General (12:23)
  • Fills gaps in rural communities, often being the only food and grocery option nearby.
  • Commitment to not displacing existing small businesses but enhancing local access.

• Personal Testimonies

  • Angela Martin’s 38 years with Dollar General, driven by personal identification with the customer and the impact of Dollar General stores on her own upbringing and community.
    • Quote: “The folks we serve are those who have too much month left at the end of their money…And I grew up as one of those customers.” — Angela Martin (05:44)

The Hall of Values: Pillars of Culture

• Integrity and Trust

  • Integrity is foundational, tied to both customer relationships and employee engagement.
    • Quote: “We believe in integrity in everything we do.” — Sree Rajagopalan (08:33)
    • Angela Martin: “It’s really about making sure we provide our customers with the values they need… but doing so in a way that has integrity and being authentic…” (07:57)

• Serving Others: Beyond the Customer

  • Broader focus on community (including employees and shareholders), reiterating Dollar General’s identity as a community-first retailer.
    • Quote: "Our ability to become a part of the community without destroying other businesses is something we take a lot of pride in." — Angela Martin (09:59)

• Hard Work and Internal Growth

  • Promotes lean operations to keep prices low for customers.
  • Strong focus on internal talent development; numerous top executives began in entry-level or intern positions.
    • Quote: "Our CMO…started out as an administrative assistant at Dollar General." — Angela Martin (26:41)
    • Quote: "If you embrace hard work…the passion of serving others…you can really go far in the organization." — Angela Martin (27:01)

• Celebrating Employees

  • Recognition programs like Chairman’s Circle for standout employee contributions.
  • Employee recognition is visible: “We have their names in the cafeteria here.” — Angela Martin (35:13)

Broadening Format and Market Expansion

• Store Formats

  • DG Market: Full grocery with fresh food and produce.
  • Pop Shelf: Launched during the pandemic to focus on non-consumables and a “stress-free” shopping environment; over 200 locations as of recording (16:12).

• Geographic Reach

  • 20,000+ stores across the 48 contiguous states.
  • International expansion with "Mi Super Dollar General" in Monterrey, Mexico, tailored for local shopping habits. Strong customer reception and in-store bakery.
    • Quote: “We wanted to bring our model—small stores with more emphasis on produce and meats—to the local communities.” — Angela Martin (39:03)
    • Quote: “Only 40% of folks in Mexico have a car…So we opened our stores down there. They’ve been really well received.” — Angela Martin (39:58)

Private Brands and the Importance of Value

• Private Label Growth
  • Early adoption of store brands like Clover Valley (food), Good and Smart, and housewares.
  • Focus on quality and packaging to compete with national brands, leveraging digital shelf (e.g., reviews) to build trust.
    • Quote: “The biggest obstacle to consumers...adopting private brands has always been the issue of quality. And now...people have the ability to go on and read product ratings and reviews.” — Host (43:53)
    • Angela Martin: “Once they’ve tried it [private brand product], they don’t go back... because they like the quality as well as the price.” (44:39)

Innovative and Unique Marketing

• Historical Promotions
  • Creative early marketing: e.g., putting a shoe in a block of ice for a contest; giving away one work glove outside and selling the second inside to draw people in (29:05).
    • Quote: "He actually gave out one pair of work gloves…He had the other one in the store to draw them in.” — Angela Martin (29:40)

Community Engagement and Philanthropy

• Dollar General Literacy Foundation
  • Founded in recognition of the Turner family’s own struggles with education, with philanthropic focus on adult literacy.
  • Proceeds from fun yellow reading sunglasses go to support literacy programs.
    • Quote: “We do provide opportunities for folks to learn even English classes as well as literacy classes throughout the United States.” — Angela Martin (33:40)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Company Mission:
  “Serving others—customers, employees, shareholders, and communities.” — Angela Martin (31:31)
• On Community Reach:
  “75% of Americans are within five miles of a DG.” — Angela Martin (12:26)
• On Internal Growth:
  “If you embrace hard work…the passion of serving others…you can really go far in the organization.” — Angela Martin (27:01)
• On Private Brand Trust:
  “Once they’ve tried it, they don’t go back. Typically they don’t.” — Angela Martin (44:39)
• Founders’ Wisdom:
  “If it’s bought right, it’s half sold.” — Angela Martin (13:35)
• On the Customer’s Seat:
  “We like to have a chair empty at the table in a lot of meetings to represent the customer.” — Angela Martin (24:23)
• Fun in the Workplace:
  “Work is work, but you should also have fun at times doing that.” — Angela Martin (05:11)

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Important Timestamps

• 04:41: The story behind the black bears & Dollar General’s culture of fun
• 05:44: Angela Martin’s personal story and 38 years with Dollar General
• 09:49: The mission of “serving others” and how it was formalized
• 12:23: 75% of Americans live within five miles of a Dollar General
• 19:42: The original “Dollar Day” concept and store history
• 21:39: Value is a combination of price, quality, and convenience
• 24:23: The empty seat at meetings—always representing the customer
• 26:41: Employee growth: from intern to executive leadership
• 31:31: Reading of Dollar General’s mission statement
• 33:40: The ongoing work of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation
• 39:03: Launching Mi Super Dollar General in Mexico
• 43:53: Private brands and the role of digital reviews for trust
• 35:13: Chairman's Circle employee recognition program

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Tone & Style

The conversation is welcoming, personable, and often lighthearted, mirroring Dollar General’s core principle of finding joy in service and work. Both hosts and their guest maintain an accessible, conversational tone while sharing deep insights and practical examples.

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In Summary

This episode offers an enlightening behind-the-scenes look at how Dollar General’s values permeate its culture, operations, and community engagement. It underscores how an unwavering focus on integrity, service, and empathy for both the customer and the employee has been pivotal to the retailer’s enduring success. Angela Martin’s stories, anecdotes, and passion illustrate what makes Dollar General unique—not just as a retailer, but as a vital community partner for millions across America and, now, beyond.

Transcript

[Peter Vs Vaughan]

Hey, it's PVSB with the CPG Guys. You know, we talk a lot about this on the show. For CPG marketers today, it's not just about reaching consumers. It's about connecting with them meaningfully at every touch point. Here's the reality. Shopping isn't just an event anymore. It's woven into daily life. And with consumers spending over 90 minutes streaming content, daily entertainment has become central to the shopping journey. Amazon ads unifies commerce, entertainment and open Internet to reach 86% of US households, turning trillions of consumer signals into powerful results both on and beyond Amazon. So visit advertising.Amazon.com to learn more. Hello and welcome to the CPG Guys Podcast. Set at the intersection of commerce and tech, your hosts Sree Rajagopelan and Peter Vs Vaughan explore how brands and retailers engage consumers in a digitally driven world. And now, here are the CPG guys. Hello and welcome to the CPG Guys podcast. I am your indefatigable co host, pvsp, and when I'm not podcasting along with my bff, I am leading industry and client engagement at Flywheel, the commerce acceleration division of Omnicom. Joining me as always on this journey, he's my bff. He is the CRO of Think Blue consulting. He's the patriarch of the Raj family media empire with his daughters Lara and Ria. Lots of big news going on there. We'll ask him a little bit about that before we get started. His podcasting wife, Kavita. I'm waiting for his three cats and his dog to somehow get into the media business as well. They do have Instagram accounts though.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Of course.

[Peter Vs Vaughan]

I'm talking about my ride or die. Sree. Sree. This episode we recorded down in Nashville, Tennessee. We went down for Amazon on Bucks. But that's not what this episode is about. It's not about Amazon. What's going on here, Sree?

[Sree Rajagopelan]

It's about serving others. And I'm super, super excited. That's what this episode is going to be about. We're going to learn about one of the most iconic high penetration across the United States retailers that exist that brings value to shoppers every single day. I'm super excited. They chose us to actually do this episode with and I can't actually wait to get started. So, Peter, what do we have going on?

[Peter Vs Vaughan]

Well, we had a wonderful meeting. We were invited up to the headquarters of Dollar General where we met with Angela Martin. She's the vice president of customer insights and branding and they were so pleased to walk us through. Now, if you go to their headquarters. And you walk in the front door, you have to pass all these bears, statues of bears sitting around a fountain hanging from the roof. It's quite interesting. We actually get into what those bears are about. But that wasn't the primary reason we were there. We were there to get a personal tour of the hall of Values. We're going to let Angela take us through this in this conversation, but it was a phenomenal hour, really understanding the history of Dollar General and why they're so successful and why they're such an integral part of the lives of so many Americans with their close proximity. And as we talked about it, in many communities across America, they're the only game in town for. For fresh produce and for grocery staples. So sit back, everybody, relax. Listen to this great conversation. I know you're going to enjoy it. And we'll catch on the back end of this to give our summary.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Hey, it's the CPG guys. We are here north of Nashville, Tennessee. We are at the headquarters of Dollar General and we are pleased to have joining with Sheree and me, Angela Martin. Angela is the vice president of Customer Insights Branding at Dollar General. Angela, how you doing? I am doing well than excited to be here. Thank you for the invitation your team gave us. Sree.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Hey, we're grateful that Brooke Stegman from Corporate Comms had us come down and we're doing some awesome things with y' all today. We're going to learn about the hall of Values. But, ma', am, I have a question for you.

[Angela Martin]

Okay.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So Peter and I walk into headquarters. We park, we see a bunch of black bears.

[Angela Martin]

Yes.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Solve the mystery for us. What do the black bears represent? Because the legendary myth we find on AI and Google says that it's actually a black bear ran into a store in Jersey. I know that can't be the reason.

[Angela Martin]

Why it actually could have happened because we've had alligators, beavers, dogs, cats. But the real reason that we have black bears is when we built this building, our founder's son, who was our CEO at the time, really wanted to set the tone for really inspiring people to have fun when they work. In fact, there's a saying right around the bears. It says using the work to develop the person that while having fun.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Having fun.

[Angela Martin]

While having fun. And bears are one of those animals that actually play. You see them on YouTube. They dance, they scratch, they roll down hills. And he thought it would be a great way to remind people that work is work, but you should also have fun at times doing that.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That's brilliant. One great story.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Speaking of having fun at work, we also learned you've been with Dollar General 38 years.

[Angela Martin]

Yes.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So tell us, what drives somebody in that order of being developed 38 years. What's kept you here for 38 years?

[Angela Martin]

Well, I was hired. I was still in college as an intern. But I will tell you the main reason. There are two. One is the company's values that the Turner's actually say was developed from Scottsville, Kentucky, where I'm from, our hometown. But the second reason is our customers. You know, lots of things have changed at Dollar General, except for one thing, and that is the. The folks we serve are those who have too much month left at the end of their money. They're cash strapped. And I grew up as one of those customers. But years ago, when we were doing some focus groups, I was fresh out of college writing everything everybody said. They went around the room asking customers why they shop at Dollar General. And this one lady, her name was Monique, she lived in Nashville. She didn't have a car. We had a store in Nashville, right down the street at that time. She said that thanks to Dollar General, she survived because of having the store nearby. The values that we have, the assortment that we have. And I realized that there was a way for us to. For me to have a career and make money, but also make a difference in the lives of customers.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That's great. What a great story. Well, as we said, we're just so happy to be here. And one of the things that we're very excited to hear about is, is the hall of Values. So here we are, and we're going to let you walk us through sh. And I'm going to have lots of questions.

[Angela Martin]

That is great.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

We're very intrigued about this. So please.

[Angela Martin]

All right, let's go on in. We remodeled our hall a couple of years ago, and we tried to develop it in a way that would be easy for us to keep updated.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay.

[Angela Martin]

And one of the ways that we do that is to use a lot of. Of technology, digital screens that we can update. And so we will take a tour around. We'll start with our history, and then we'll end with some of the things that we're doing currently.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

You know, there's a word I saw up here, and it keeps. Because it's screen. It'll come back. It talks about integrity.

[Angela Martin]

Yes.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Tell us about integrity in Dollar General.

[Angela Martin]

You know, it's been part of our company for as long as I can remember. And it started with the founders and the Turners and It's really about, you know, making sure that we provide our customers. Yes. Making sure that we provide our customers with the values that they need in the stores around the country, but doing so in a way that is. That has integrity and being authentic to that. Making sure that we give a great value for our customers and also great opportunities for employees.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Peter, how important is it? It actually says we believe in integrity in everything we do.

[Angela Martin]

Yep, that's right.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

So you build trust in. In your customers and why they keep coming back to you week after week. You deliver value and they trust that you're going to make sure you have that.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Absolutely.

[Angela Martin]

So if we start over here, I want to pause a little bit and talk about serving others. This has been our mission since our founder's son, Cal Turner Jr. Who was also our CEO when he took over leadership. He brought a lot of new ideas. He's graduate from Vanderbilt, and he brought a lot of new ideas and structures to who we are. Because we started out, the first Dollar Store ever was founded by dollar general by Mr. Turner. And so one of the things he did was to clarify why we do what we do. And serving others has been our since, gosh, I guess it was in the 80s when our mission statement and values were articulated by the Turners.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So I have a question on that. There's, you know, saying serving customers, which obviously I'll do every day for a living. Yes, that's the business of Dollar General. But when you say serving others, what comes to mind is community.

[Angela Martin]

Absolutely.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Tell us about the communities that Dollar General is anchored in.

[Angela Martin]

Oh, I love that question. Because one of the things we are most proud of is that Dollar General, other retailers either cannot or will not go into those small communities throughout the United States. And so our ability to become a part of the community without destroying other businesses is something we take a lot of pride in. So we have a role to serve. We also say serving others, our employees, so that they can have a better life, our shareholders, with superior returns on investment. But also, when we. When you think about who we serve, it is the broader community, not just our customers.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Makes a lot of sense. No, absolutely. I know that where, where I go up into the Cascill Mountains in New York when I go fishing, there are a couple of stores in towns where they are the only. The only store in town. And those communities would have to make major sacrifices to get to some place where they could buy their. Their grocery, staples. So you do clearly present a very valuable contribution to the communities where those people live well.

[Angela Martin]

And I'M glad that you noticed that because, you know, the thing that I love growing up in the country, I grew up in Holland, Kentucky, population 50. Going to Scottsville, Kentucky, was going to.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Town that was a big city.

[Angela Martin]

That was the big city. You know, a lot of folks have to drive quite a distance in rural America to get to a place that can support a full grocery store or a mass retailer. And having this ability not only keeps things convenient for our customers. They save on gas, they save on money, but it also supports those needs that they have whenever they have them. So I'm glad you. And you know, one of our customers, several years ago, I guess it was five years ago, once said, and she was in Versailles, Kentucky. And it is Versailles.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

It's not some fancy schmancy French palace.

[Angela Martin]

No, it is not.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

It's Versailles.

[Angela Martin]

It's Versailles. And in Versailles, she said, we have a savings saying up here, every time it rains, another Dollar General store grows. And we love that because we can be part of those communities and really meet people where they live.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Fabulous. One other last question before we move on, which is tell our audience what percent of the population in the United States this Dollar General reaches it within five miles? Ten miles?

[Angela Martin]

I think within five miles, it's 75%.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

75%. That's.

[Angela Martin]

So think about that. 75% of Americans are within five miles of a DG.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

That is incredible. That's community.

[Angela Martin]

That is community. Very much so.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay.

[Angela Martin]

All right. So we actually didn't start as Dollar General. That didn't happen until the mid-50s. We actually started in 1939 as J.L. turner and Son Wholesale. And Jay, did you all know that?

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Did not know that.

[Angela Martin]

So J.L. turner was our founder's father, and he and his son created the Turner Department stores later, but actually started out as a wear a wholesaler. And it wasn't until the mid-50s that our founder actually hit upon the Dollar General concept. But even before then, the Turner's actually got into retailing. They had junior department stores and they got into retailing. And this is their words, not mine. But as Mr. Turner said, his father was into ladies panties. And let me explain, because that we.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Can'T leave it there.

[Angela Martin]

We cannot leave that there. Mr. Turner always said that if. If it's bought right, it's half sold. And after the war, he had bought all these ladies lingerie.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay.

[Angela Martin]

And he went to all the. The retailers that they. They serviced and wanted them to buy the lingerie. And they said, well, Cal, I haven't sold all the panties that that we've already bought from you. And Mr. Turner at that time, he and his father decided to go directly to the customer. And so that's how we went from a wholesaler to a retailer. And then it would be until 1955 before Mr. Turner had the idea for Dollar General.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay, right.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

You know, before we do anything else, I saw, I asked you a question about United States and I see a map. It almost feels wrong for me to not ask you. Tell us about the map.

[Angela Martin]

So the map is designed. Let's just go over here. So you're originally from Canada? Yes, and India. Where do you all live right now?

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

So sri's in Los Angeles.

[Angela Martin]

All right, so if you click on California, you'll see how many stores we have.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Okay.

[Angela Martin]

We have different formats under the Dollar General umbrella. One of them is the DG market and we also have two distribution centers.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Now Fiji market, of course is fresh produce food.

[Angela Martin]

It's more of a full grocery shop. In fact, it has most, the most cooler doors. We have fresh foods, fresh meats, fresh produce in addition to the regular general merchandise side. All right, I'm from Kentucky and we have 743 stores, three DG markets, eight pop shelves, which is another format that we have, as well as three distribution centers.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Tell us about the pop shelves, please.

[Angela Martin]

Be happy to. So right during the pandemic, the heart of the pandemic, we were looking at and we always look at different formats, different ways to serve the customer. And on this particular period of time, we were looking at how do we provide a whole different, different store format than from our Dollar General. Really focusing on more on the non consumables.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay.

[Angela Martin]

And so we developed a brand called Pop Shelf. Doing very well. We have designed it so that it actually takes the stress out of shopping. Shopping is not, not pleasant at times. Shopping can be stressful and we wanted a great shopping experience where people didn't have guilt around prices, where they could treat themselves and they also had more of a stress free environment. Okay, have you all been in one?

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I've seen one. I've not been in one.

[Angela Martin]

So we have one in Hendersonville not far from here. And I would, I'd love for you.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Guys will check it out.

[Angela Martin]

Okay, you all will check that out. And then I love going to Texas because we have a lot of pop shelf stores there and we have 1700 plus stores, 82 DG markets and 4 distribution distribution centers. So we are literally in, in all of the lower 48.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Congratulations on all the beach.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

You are a second. You're the closest Dollar General to me is a seven minute drive from my house in Guilford, Connecticut that is pass by it every day taking my daughter to and from school. So we're in there all the time.

[Angela Martin]

That is awesome.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

One of our favorite places to stop on the way home.

[Angela Martin]

Do you treat her?

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Of course I do.

[Angela Martin]

There you go.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I love hearing any good dad would do that.

[Angela Martin]

Any good dad.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

She runs right for the toy section, figures out what she wants and then occasionally wants a beverage or something else to snack on.

[Angela Martin]

You know, that's interesting. One of the things that we we learned is that Dollar General is that place where a lot of our customers don't have enough money to be able to provide some things that their custom that their children want and need. But being able to give your kid a dollar and send them to the toy section to be able to find something or a candy bar, that's one of those things that we take a lot of pride in.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I'm going to give you my own convenience example.

[Angela Martin]

Okay.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I in my own personal life, my hardware items also tools I have never bought from anything but a Dollar General store.

[Angela Martin]

All right. That deserves a high five. I love it.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I go to other formats. I just by default to the day, whether it's nails, screwdrivers and there are unique things I can find in a Dollar General that I can't anywhere else. Micro screwdrivers. I only find them in a Dollar General. It's very hard to find them otherwise.

[Angela Martin]

What do you use? A micro screwdriver?

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Watches.

[Angela Martin]

Repairing little things.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Repairing little things.

[Angela Martin]

You know, that's one of the reasons our name is Dollar General and there's Dollar. We can talk about it but that general store was, you know, we wanted. We don't have enough space like a huge, huge mass retailer. But in the space we have, we want to have breadth of selection and micro screwdrivers.

[Peter Vs Vaughan]

There you go.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I think prior to our conversation I was telling you a story. We of course saw the US map over here. But anytime I get an international visitor visiting me from any corner of the world, they want to go to a Dollar General store. I love that you got a budget. Hundred dollars, $100. Don't walk out with less than $100.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

They're going to spend $99.28. They're going to maximize.

[Angela Martin]

We have been talking a lot about our founders and this is Mr. Turner Sr. He and his dad, they had J.L. turner and son Wholesale which became Turner and Son Department stores which became dollar general. But Mr. Turner and then this is Cal Jr who we have spoken about. Mr. Turner came up with the dollar idea of a dollar store because he always got the Nashville paper and back then it was the Nashville Banner, there were two papers, it's gone out and also the Louisville Courier Journal. And he began noticing that these retailers, department stores would take out a full page ad, a full page just on dollar days. And he had this idea of what if we make every day dollar day?

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I love that every day is a dollar day.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So, so for our audience, right. That's how the concept of Dollar General developed. Every day is a dollar day.

[Angela Martin]

Absolutely. And back then it could be in multiples like two for a dollar, two for even five dollars. Everything wasn't always around that one dollar. But the thought was everything that we do is going to have value for a dollar. And so when he opened the first Dollar General store, It was in 1955, it was in Springfield, Kentucky. And the reason he went there, there was a couple of reasons. First of all, when he had his bright idea about Dollar General and he took it to his leadership team, they said, nah, that would never work. It will never work.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So speaking of values, we are in the hall of values for Dollar General. We talked about community. Now I'm sensing we're shifting into customer.

[Angela Martin]

Yes.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So tell us values, what does value mean to a customer since we're at the values wall?

[Angela Martin]

Well, value is a loaded question these days because the, the proliferation of cell phones and, and the information you have at your fingertips provides a lot of information on value. But at its heart and core it's giving value for a dollar spent, whatever that is. So it's good price, good quality, but it's also convenience. You know, time is money, Time is money, time is money. That's, you know, our, our tagline is save time, save money every day.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

And so that's why I go to a Dollar General a day.

[Angela Martin]

That is awesome.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

We were talking with your colleague Austin Leonard who runs TG Media Network and he's talking about the last mile delivery strategy and that component of yeah, we can make it convenient for you, but there has to be value.

[Angela Martin]

Absolutely.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

In the delivery is still something the Dollar General has not forgotten about. It is front and center in how they are taking their, their delivery service to market.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

My father in law is actually visiting me from India now and we were driving by, I have a Dollar General within five miles of where I live in Los Angeles. And he reminded me last week on the drive, do not forget, we haven't done a Dollar General trip. So I Wasn't kidding.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

He won't leave the country until he's made his trip and he's packed up when he's done.

[Angela Martin]

You come from good people.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

He does.

[Angela Martin]

You come from people that know value. That is awesome.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Now I'm going to go back and tell him that story and actually show him some of this content that we're shooting.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Exactly.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

But I see customers here.

[Angela Martin]

Well the customer is throughout and the Turner's, Mr. Turner had a great ability to just inherently understand the customer. You know his, his father, J.L. turner had to drop out of school in the third grade when his father was killed and he became the man of the house and farmed. One of the, the things that we always hear at Dollar General is always plow to the end of the road and, or row not road. But when, when J.L. turner was growing up, he really wanted a better life for his son. And they went into wholesale from farming and part of that was he wanted to have, when he did Dollar General, he wanted to serve the rural lower income, cash strapped folks that he was very familiar with and grew up with in, in Kentucky.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I see a little message here. It says as a boy Cal Jr. Worked in the warehouse sweeping the floors himself, helping managers load merchandise into their car trunks and back seats. Talk about learning distribution. Clerking in the dry goods store. There's your cashier right there. He watched farmers agonize over even small purchases. That's comm. Supply chain commodities, Kentucky farmers. He learned the value of hard earned dollar to folks with all few of them. That's product acquisition, raw material acquisition. My father believed anybody, anyone would do well to be brought up in a small town. I'm grateful for my upbringing. He says Cal Junior's father taught him to understand the business from the perspective of struggling hard working customers. There's a reason why y' all have so many stores today and there's the heart of it there.

[Angela Martin]

That is the heart of it. We really do have a passion for low income customers. Our core customers. In fact I was at a meeting with our SVP over merchandising with Pepsico last week and one of the things that he mentioned was there was that.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Mr. Hartshorn.

[Angela Martin]

Yes. Brian Hartshorn. Yes.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

We worked together while I was at General Mills.

[Angela Martin]

You know, I've known him since he was in the eighth grade and I was taller than him. He's now six three. But he, he mentioned that, you know, we like to have a chair empty at the table in a lot of meetings to represent the customer.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That's great.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

How awesome.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I like that.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So you'll actually practice that out.

[Angela Martin]

We have. I don't think it happens all the time.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That's okay.

[Angela Martin]

But in big.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

The mission clear.

[Angela Martin]

Oh, the mission is clear. And so is our customer. We take a lot of pride in understanding who our core customers are and how we serve them. And it's really fundamental to our continued success. A lot of folks, I think, sometimes wants to grow customers so so much or new customer acquisition that they forget the heart of their business. And we never want to do that because our low prices and value and convenience, that's what draws in other more affluent customers to shop with us.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So don't be surprised if there's a T shirt the CPG guys wear with that very value concept of an empty seat at the table.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

There we go.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Because that I think people, people have forgotten these days that at the end of the day, what do CPG manufacturers and retailers service? The customer.

[Angela Martin]

That is exactly.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

We have an empty seat representative. That's best case.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

So when we walked in, you talked about integrity. And one of the points you made is not only to your customers, but to your employees. So can you talk a little bit about. Because I see over here, hard work, common sense is the cornerstone of Dollar General's go to market strategy. You know, but you, you said, you mentioned that it's written outside. Make sure you have fun. And that kind of gets to the heart of do what you love. Tell us a little bit more about how that builds into the ethos that is Dollar General.

[Angela Martin]

Sure. I mean, we work super hard at Dollar General. We are a lean organization because a leaner organization can pass along costs to the customers. And I think that's really important. And we, we really take developing of our. Of our employees very seriously. I started out. Oops, that problem. I started out as an intern and since then have progressed throughout the organization.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Congratulations.

[Angela Martin]

Thank you. Our cmo, Emily Taylor, started out as an administrative assistant at Dollar General.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I didn't know that. Next time I see Emily.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

We saw Emily at our award show last December in New York City and talked to her about that. Kind of led to a lot of the conversations we've been having.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Actually, I saw her last week.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Oh, you did?

[Sree Rajagopelan]

At the Coca Cola Research Council.

[Angela Martin]

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And so I think, you know, that just demonstrates that at Dollar General, if you embrace hard work, the passion of serving others and our customers, and you're willing to put in the hard work, you can really go far in the organization.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

That's how it should be. Congratulations.

[Angela Martin]

Thank you.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I love that. Do what you love. Then you won't dread coming to work on Monday because all too often we are. Oh gosh, Monday morning.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I like to write the Monday blues.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Talk to us about loving coming in on a Monday to work.

[Angela Martin]

Well, I, I think everybody.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Business retail is tough.

[Angela Martin]

It is tough. And we like to talk about the speed of dg, which is. Retail is a fast paced environment, as you're well aware. But Mr. Turner always believed very strongly that we have to make sure that you enjoy what you do at work because you're there more with folks during your co workers during the day than even your family. So that's really important. And you mentioned these peak pants.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Now I'm from New England. Right.

[Angela Martin]

Okay.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Those of us who will go to Nantucket would refer to this as Nantucket Red. Oh, but, but this is about painting the town pink. Now what's that about?

[Angela Martin]

Well, Mr. Turner Senior, our founder, he would pretty much buy anything if the price is right.

[Peter Vs Vaughan]

Okay. Good deal.

[Angela Martin]

With a local manufacturer, I think it was Washington, it was in Scottsville.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay.

[Angela Martin]

And they had an excess of pants. The pink was a big thing in the 50s. I didn't know that, but it was kind of at the end of that, that phase. And Mr. Turner bought a bunch of pink pants. And literally in our first Dollar General store in Springfield, Kentucky, you know, farmers and folks would be wearing their pink. Pretty much everybody had a pair because it was such a good value.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Talk about being a trendsetter back in the days, huh?

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Value Trend center. I love that.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I noticed another message here that talks about unique marketing. What is unique marketing?

[Angela Martin]

Well, here's a great example. Mr. Turner had all these wonder. He was just a. He was such an incredible entrepreneur, but he had an idea of putting like a shoe in a block of ice. And then whoever could guess when it would actually melt, they got the prize.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That was a contest.

[Angela Martin]

That was the contest. Another thing that he did, and it shows how much he knew his customers. He actually gave out one pair of work gloves. You've seen the brown work gloves.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Yes.

[Angela Martin]

Very important to farmers, especially tobacco. Oh yeah. Right over here. He had the idea to hand out one for free and then he had the other one in the store to draw them into.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I love it. If you want to get the other ones in the store.

[Angela Martin]

That's right.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Brilliant idea.

[Angela Martin]

His idea was that if, you know, they came in to cash their check, they would have the money right there when it was time to make some purchases. So just brilliant.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Unique marketing indeed.

[Angela Martin]

Yes.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Then we See tools of the trade.

[Angela Martin]

Yes. Mr. Turner, this is his actual monitor from Scottsville and he had an office down there and he would actually write out notes to himself and put. Let me see if I can find. I don't see it.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I see a lot of numbers.

[Angela Martin]

A lot of. Oh, Mr. Turner was all about the numbers.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

If you're in a dollar store, you better be all about the numbers.

[Angela Martin]

He was, he had one when he was. After he retired, but not retired. He had one store that he was the district manager of and it was Scottsville, Kentucky. And he looked at the sales every day. He made special purchases. But one of the things, and I don't see it on here is Mr. Turner would always doodle the word now on anything that he had. And one of the reasons that he did that. There you go. One of the reasons he did that was because he knew time was money and he didn't like sit down meetings. People got too comfortable. He wanted stand up meetings.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Well then people are incentivized to move faster.

[Angela Martin]

That is, that's what he wanted. And I think our love for the speed of DG actually originates with our founder.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Awesome. We do see the mission statement right here. So maybe we should read that one out and we'll ask you to do that.

[Angela Martin]

Sure. We have it. As we mentioned earlier, it's serving others. And every time we open our doors, we do so with that commitment in mind. Whether it's offering affordable access to quality products in convenient locations, or creating jobs that grow into meaningful careers, or even investing in life changing educational programs, we strive to do that and to serve others. And then you can see at the bottom for our customers, convenience, quality and great prices. Our employees, respect and opportunity. Our shareholders, a superior return. And then for our communities, a better life.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Simple message, serving others. Nothing complicated. Who are the others right here. Customers, employees, shareholders, communities.

[Angela Martin]

The thing I love is that a lot of other people or other businesses. Mission statement. There's a long sentence, right?

[Sree Rajagopelan]

That's my point. Simple.

[Angela Martin]

It just really boils it down to the most important part.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

When you serve others, it automatically works out. And we see Literary foundation, literacy foundation.

[Angela Martin]

Yes.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

It would be impossible for us to leave without asking you about the foundation.

[Angela Martin]

Well, the foundation was actually, we started the literacy as our philanthropy back in the 80s. And the reason for that is. Remember Mr. Turner's father, J.L. turner, dropped out of school in the third grade to take care of his family. And because of that, we really understand the limitations of illiteracy and the economic issues that, that can, that can Provide. We also understand why sometimes people do drop out of school or don't have the skill sets. And so with that in mind, the Turners developed this for Dollar General. And Deneen Tor, who is over our philanthropies, has done an excellent job in really elevating this. And so we do provide opportunities for folks to learn even English classes as well as literacy classes throughout the United States. So we're very proud of that.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

And is the yellow glasses project existing today?

[Angela Martin]

It is existing today. So we developed this to try to remind people and reading glasses makes sense. But we made them sunglasses because they're just cooler. You know, yellow glasses is part of. We do sell them. The proceeds go to support literacy.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Sure, of course.

[Angela Martin]

And besides, they just look real cool. I'll make sure you all get a pair.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

You know, there's going to be a picture on LinkedIn with those glasses.

[Angela Martin]

I certainly hope so.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

All right.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

And as we continue and talk about employees here.

[Angela Martin]

Hang on a second while we're here.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Oh, I love this.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Awesome.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

We get it straight from you, kindly.

[Angela Martin]

And then one more, because if you're like me, you lose them.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

So I think my daughter's going to love them.

[Angela Martin]

All right, there you go.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Six and a half year old with yellow.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

This is going to be.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That's a no brainer.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

There we go. So this is going to be sri's glasses for the rest of this conversation.

[Angela Martin]

Oh my gosh.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

You might want to take the tag off.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Yeah, I'll get it off.

[Angela Martin]

You could leave it on. That's Mini Pearl in Tennessee.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

It is kind of, isn't it?

[Angela Martin]

Yeah, it's kind of Tennessee.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

But employees and our promise to employees. So let's talk about how we serve our employees.

[Angela Martin]

Well, we do it in various ways. We certainly have recognition programs that we use. We call the. The highest level of that is the Chairman's circle. It's for folks throughout the organization who have done above and beyond work for dollars.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Is it like an annual award?

[Angela Martin]

It is an annual reward. In fact, we have their names in our ridge, the cafeteria here. And so. But we also have development and we also provide opportunities for communities within the organization.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I gotta imagine people really want to get on that wall in the cafeteria.

[Angela Martin]

They absolutely want to get on the wall.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Prestigious. It is FOMO almost.

[Angela Martin]

It is.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

How do people.

[Angela Martin]

And I haven't won one, so.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I mean.

[Angela Martin]

Yeah, you're talking about really high achievers, not me.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So the CPG guys have no chance.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Three, we're going to send a message to leadership at dg. It would not be a bad thing for Angela. That.

[Angela Martin]

That's okay.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Now, you mentioned this earlier. We came in the pop shelf.

[Angela Martin]

Here is our pop shelf. You can see the brand is a. Is a stark departure from all of our other brands under our umbrella. All the things you see here is from our first grand opening.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

And how many stores do you have now that are pop shops? You started five years ago, you started.

[Angela Martin]

A little over 200.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

A little over 200.

[Angela Martin]

Yeah. I mean, for us, that's a small number of stores. For other retailers, it's a chain.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Somebody could be the entire chain. Like you said, five chains.

[Angela Martin]

But you can see we have a lot of things such as home decor. We have non consumables. Yeah, it's a great store.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

And then we, you know, earlier in this conversation, we met people from Mexico.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That's the other side of the wall.

[Angela Martin]

Yeah.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Oh, let's wait to get there.

[Angela Martin]

Okay.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Can't wait to get there.

[Angela Martin]

Turn around. And here it kind of goes back to investing in the growth and development of our teams. And it, you know, the. The whole comment that we have around the bears outside, using the work to develop the person while having fun.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

While having fun.

[Angela Martin]

While having fun. And I can attest that, that we do a lot of training with our. With our. Well, throughout the organization, not just corporate, but stores and distribution centers.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay.

[Angela Martin]

You can really grow at Dollar General.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

You talked about rewarding employees. Well, congratulations to eleni Sara for Pulisic869, for your leadership impact. That is how you reward them.

[Angela Martin]

That's how we reward them.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

And you actually put in this case, you put her in the hall of value. So anybody walking here actually knows.

[Angela Martin]

That's exactly right. We have other winners there as well. So it's a great opportunity. They may not even know that they're here. And this is about our supply chain.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

If you can't get products to the stores, people can't buy them.

[Angela Martin]

Nothing else really matters. Right. And we have over 22 distribution centers. Is it 22? I can't remember. Oh, more than 30 when we include our fresh distribution centers.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So more than 30, including fresh distribution centers?

[Angela Martin]

That is correct. We still have one in our hometown where we were founded in Scottsville, Kentucky. Okay. And we have them literally, and I think you saw on the map, we have them throughout. Throughout the entire company.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So speaking of supply chain, since we're right here in distribution, how many stores does Dollar General have in the United States?

[Angela Martin]

We have over 20,000 stores in the 48 contiguous states. Contiguous, I love that word. Think of it. Thank you so much. States.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

And then have you all announced expansion for next year?

[Angela Martin]

We have not announced that yet. I think that's going to be next week or the week after.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

We'll be eagerly looking forward to, you know, the expansion because.

[Angela Martin]

And also our remodels.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Oh, awesome. Because when you're serving others that expansion is important so you can serve more but pretty soon.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

But you have moved beyond the 48 contiguous states. You moved south.

[Angela Martin]

That is true.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Tell us about Misupera.

[Angela Martin]

Oh, I love this brand. So Misupa Dollar General. We opened our first stores around the Monterrey area in Mexico where we provide, you know, we, we saw that there was some white space in retailing in Mexico. In, in this area. There were stores that had great value.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Okay.

[Angela Martin]

But didn't have really good in store experiences. There were other stores that had great in store experiences but were out of range for a lot of of the hard working cash strap customers down there. So we wanted to bring our model small stores with more emphasis in you have more produce and meats in some of those items to the local communities. Only 40% of folks in Mexico have a car and usually it's one car per household. They do their shopping, stock up.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Trip with the way you do in the United States is not realistic.

[Angela Martin]

Can't do it. And they're buying pretty much every day, every other day for that day or the next day needs. And so we opened our stores down there. They've been really well received. Best fresh breads which we make right there on, on site in our tortillarias. Wonderful breads. And we've gotten great results from them. Customers love us. And the most important part is we are definitely serving an underserved customer base.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Awesome. So as we wrap this up, I'm just curious has what's changed with the average size of the basket over the last few years? Have you seen it move in any direction?

[Angela Martin]

We have seen it move. It has grown. And you know what we really also measure ourselves on is trips and driving customers to our stores. Because we are by nature a smaller basket size. We're really focused on that value and so we really are focused on driving those trips to our stores.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Understood. And then are you seeing in the last few years expansion? Your footprint is expanded. Are you seeing trips coming in, more trips coming in, frequencies change, anything of that sort?

[Angela Martin]

Yeah, I, I would, I would say this. You know, we may have started focused just on the low income consumers, but more affluent Americans are figuring out that you shouldn't have to pay more for toilet paper.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Why would you.

[Peter Vs Vaughan]

Why would you.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Value and more convenient Money.

[Angela Martin]

Time and money. And so we have seen really a large influx of more more affluent customers who are counting on us as well.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So I got one more for you before we wrap this up. We talked about employees.

[Angela Martin]

Yep.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

We talked about the customer. We talked about values. All part of who you serve. Community. The one we haven't talked about is shareholders. And I see a piece of the wall back there which has a mature retailer in growth mode. How do those two words come together?

[Angela Martin]

That is. That is an excellent question. We have been very fortunate in being able to be such a growth retailer and it kind of goes back, if you think about it, to our ability to go to places that others cannot or will not go. It allows us to expand our footprint, grow ourselves and have a great return for our shareholders.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Awesome. I know I said that will be the last one to wrap it up, but I.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That's why I never wrap it up.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Just one more, I promise you.

[Angela Martin]

That's okay.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

We'll wrap it up with this one. Talk to us about Dollar General's new product base.

[Angela Martin]

Yeah, we have a lot of private brands. Some people call them store brands. Dollar General has always provided. Well, I shouldn't say always. Since the mid-90s to late 90s we have our private brand, the oldest of which is our Clover Valley food label. In addition to that we have different brands, Good and Smart, which is a great way to save money by buying our products. Great quality. But we have them throughout some of the other departments as well. Great dog food. The oh Cozy Place candles, the fragrances. One of my favorites.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

I love it by the way, the packaging.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Yes, outstanding packaging. Your Shavely's shave products. That looks like a very high end brand.

[Angela Martin]

It is because it's Dollar General quality. But you don't pay for the expensive marketing.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

You get the look at this quality without paying the big price.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Look at the packaging.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

I know, it's brilliant. It's beautiful.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

Of course I'm referring here to dryer sheets for those listening to us.

[Angela Martin]

But it has a cute dog and cat on it. So it is perfect.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

You know what's so interesting in this day and age because this gets to the digital shelf.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Right.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

The biggest obstacle to consumers. This is from my research background of people adopting private brands has always been the issue of quality.

[Angela Martin]

Right.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

And now in the digital shelf people have the ability to go on and read product ratings and reviews to consumers. And it's amazing how a thousand people that you have never met are going to Pay more of an impact on your decision to buy a product than anything a brand or a retailer can say about. So now they start seeing, oh, they're like 2,000 people that think chili and lime roasted tortilla chips is phenomenal. I'm going to give that a try. And that breaks down. That gets them trying the product. And once they, once they've tried it, then they get to actually experience the high quality and then they're now, then.

[Angela Martin]

They don't go back.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Typically they don't.

[Angela Martin]

Yeah. Because they like the quality as well as the price.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

So I'll wrap this up by thanking corporate communications from Dollar General, thanking you for joining us on the CPG Guys, walking us through the hall of Values, meticulously and patiently answering our questions.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Don't forget the sun.

[Sree Rajagopelan]

For those of you watching, I've got the sunglass, the special yellow project sunglasses on. And thank you so much for making time and joining us on the CPG Guys.

[Angela Martin]

I really appreciate it. It's been an honor. Thank you for coming for audience.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

That's a wrap. We'll see you next time on the CPG Guys podcast.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Goodbye.

[Peter Vs Vaughan]

Well, cherie, that was a phenomenal time walking through the hall of Values with Angela Martin. It was such an incredible treat. You know, Brooke Steggeman in corporate communications put this all together for us. Shout out to Brooke. But what an inspiring and educational hour we spent with Angela. What are your thoughts on this? What are some big takeaways for you?

[Sree Rajagopelan]

As we walked in to the hall of Values, the first thing we saw was the mission statement. Service of everybody serving everyone. And when you see the serving others, when you see that and you think of who the others are, three things came to mind. And it's exactly what the mission statement is. Servicing their own, the employees, servicing the community that they exist in and most importantly, servicing the customer. You put that at the center of your values. You can't go wrong, man.

[Peter Vs Vaughan]

Yeah, sri, for me the big takeaway is that people at Dollar General like Nantucket red pants as much as message as this New Englander does. In seriousness, you understand what I mean? But no, in reality, for me it was they have such close proximity to a vast majority of the American population and they do not take lightly their commitment to make good quality products affordable and accessible to Americans. You know, our friend. And in an omnichannel way, you know, they started as a brick and mortar business and between their DG delivery model, their partnership with a couple of last mile delivery mechanisms and the fiscal proximity to the stores really makes dollar General such an essential part of the lives of so many Americans. That's really what stood out to me. So, Sree, as always, thank you so much for joining me on this journey. It was a phenomenal conversation. We have one more in the series, you know, Sree, following up if you listen, if you like this episode, you're going to love the one we had. We have with our next guest, Alan Wark, who's the vice president and head of Merchandising for Grocery and Fresh Food. So it's an absolute wonderful conversation as they take us on a tour of a DG Market store. So more to follow there. Sree, as always, thanks again to our audience. Make sure you are following us on your preferred platform of podcasting, but also make sure you're following us across the social media choices. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. Did I miss anything? Sree? I think we're gonna have to get on. We have to get on Pinterest, YouTube, YouTube. YouTube too, yeah. YouTube's a big one, people. All of our episodes are now available on YouTube, so make sure you're going there. But thanks as always, cherie, to our audience. We look forward to speaking with you on the next episode of the C PG Guys Podcast.

[Interviewer/Host (possibly Peter or Sree alternating)]

Goodbye.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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