Dollar General CEO makes grim admission amid Trump's trade war

[Eugene]

Source: The Independent

Dollar General CEO makes grim admission amid Trump’s trade war

Mike Bedigan
in New York
Friday 14 March 2025 17:20 GMT

The CEO of Dollar General has admitted that the chain is “not anticipating improvement” for core customers in 2025, amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing foreign trade wars.

Todd Vasos said Thursday that many patrons of the store indicated that "their financial situation has worsened over the last year as they have been negatively impacted by ongoing inflation.”

"Many of our customers report they only have enough money for basic essentials with some noting that they have had to sacrifice even on the necessities," Vasos said, per Business Insider.

It comes as Trump refuses to back down on his battle with foreign trading partners including Canada and the European Union. It has also been suggested that the U.S. economy is retracting and heading for a potential recession.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/dollar-general-trump-trade-war-b2715363.html

Alternate link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dollar-general-ceo-makes-grim-172009961.html

[dweller]

1. Changing name

To Sawbuck General




✌🏻

[underpants]

2. The video on the first link is Jordan Belfort on Fox n Friends

I didn’t listen to it but the irony is palpable. His entire fortune is built on swindling low end investors on penny stocks. Illegally of course. So he went to prison and his quad mate Tommy Chong convinced him to write a book.

I don’t think I finished watching “The Wolf of Wall Street”. The dialogue was so full of F it was distracting plus the whole premise repulsed me. The first Trump admin thanks to Dr. Ronny had a drug consumption level almost Belfort-esque.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. It's not just Dollar General

I posted over a week ago about my visit to Kohls which greeted me with $5 coupon at the front door and I walked out with the bargain of the century. I only spent $3 but hey it all makes a difference.

Such deep discounts are signals and sure enough Kohl's missed earnings. Stock is $8. PUmmeled investors still hoping for a takeover. Who wants retail? Their sales went down 6.5%, their earnings went down 57%.

I think their discounting is too complex. Coupons, weekly, daily or whatever, Reward or Bucks earned, I have no idea how to understand it let alone participate which I can't because I don't have their credit card.

So prepare. Consumers are voting with their money. If they have any.

Will Dollar General be A Dollar Seventy Five General?

[cynical_idealist]

4. Penny Private

[Mike 03]

5. I believe him, but isn't the conventional wisdom that stores and chains

lower down the totem pole perform well during recessions as customers "trade down"; so the people who used to shop at Target move to Walmart, and these Dollar stores benefit from this shift? (Obviously, none of this is good news, but certain sectors tend to do well during financial hardship). Many of us have heard over the years how cosmetic companies outperformed during the Great Depression, etc...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Good point. I wonder if it is by comparison, key being "outperformed"

If all (or essentially all) companies decline in a recession or depression, then cosmetics and the like also decline, but less.

And there might be a time element involved. Perhaps people cut back first on what might have been frivolous or "disposable" spending at such stores, then later the bigger items (new fridge), all the while maintaining purchases of lipstick and razors.