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Dollar General Trip Generation: A Data-Driven Assessment for Neighborhood Traffic Planning

When evaluating the traffic impacts of a typical Dollar General store, the most reliable starting point is the company’s own operating performance rather than generalized assumptions. In fiscal 2025, Dollar General generated approximately $42.7 billion in net sales across a store base of roughly 20,900 locations. This equates to an average of about $2.05 million in annual sales per store.

The average transaction, or ticket size, at Dollar General has historically fallen in the range of $18 to $20. Independent analyses of shopper behavior have placed the figure near $19.99 in earlier years, while more recent industry observations of the broader dollar channel remain clustered around $19 to $20. Using a midpoint of $19.50 produces a straightforward calculation: $2.05 million in annual sales divided by $19.50 yields roughly 105,100 customer transactions per year at an average store.

Converted to a daily basis, this represents approximately 288 customer visits each day, or a practical working range of 255 to 310 visits depending on the precise ticket size applied. Because the majority of these visits in rural and suburban settings occur by automobile, each customer trip typically generates both an inbound and an outbound vehicle movement. Conservatively accounting for this pattern produces an estimated 500 to 600 vehicle trips per day associated with customer activity alone. Adding employee arrivals and departures, together with routine vendor and delivery traffic, elevates the total daily vehicle activity associated with a typical store into the range of 550 to 700 trips or higher.

These derived volumes align with, and in many cases exceed, the rates published in the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation Manual for comparable land uses. Free-standing discount stores (ITE Land Use Code 815) are generally expected to generate 50 to 56 weekday trips per 1,000 square feet of floor area. For a store in the 8,000 to 8,500 square-foot range that Dollar General commonly employs, this produces an expected daily total of roughly 400 to 480 trips under pure ITE averages. The higher figures obtained from actual sales and transaction data are consistent with Dollar General’s operating model: frequent, low-basket-size trips for everyday consumables in markets that often lack nearby alternatives. The result is a higher trip rate relative to store size than would be predicted for a conventional larger-format discount retailer.

The practical implication is clear. A single Dollar General location can be expected to generate several hundred vehicle movements each day on a consistent, year-round basis. In a residential or mixed-use neighborhood setting, this level of activity constitutes a meaningful addition to the local traffic stream. When combined with observed pedestrian activity, school-related travel, or existing roadway conditions that lack adequate crossing provisions or speed control, the data support measured interventions. A reduction in posted speed limit and the installation of a marked crosswalk represent proportionate responses to the volume and character of traffic that such a store introduces.

These estimates are intentionally conservative. They rely on company-wide averages rather than site-specific sales figures, which may be higher or lower depending on local demographics and competition. They also treat most customer visits as vehicle trips, an assumption that is reasonable for the majority of Dollar General’s locations but can be refined with local observation. Even under these measured assumptions, however, the numbers demonstrate that a typical store is a consistent generator of daily traffic at a scale that warrants formal consideration in roadway design and pedestrian safety planning.

The analysis above can be adapted with greater precision if actual store square footage, local sales performance, or observed peak-hour counts become available. In the absence of such site-specific data, the company averages and established engineering rates provide a transparent and defensible foundation for discussion with municipal staff.

The core problem: Since 1960, Topeka’s land area grew about 65% while population grew only about 7%. The city has become less dense and more expensive to serve.

City of Topeka Land Use and Growth Management Plan (2014 video from the City of Topeka)

This short promotional video explains Topeka’s updated Land Use and Growth Management Plan, an element of the city’s comprehensive plan. It promotes a shift toward fiscally responsible, sustainable “smart growth” instead of continued low-density sprawl.

Key Points

• The core problem: Since 1960, Topeka’s land area grew about 65% while population grew only about 7%. The city has become less dense and more expensive to serve. Population has leaked to unincorporated Shawnee County (the city’s share of county population has declined, while the population outside the city has more than doubled). Only 2 out of every 10 new county residents have moved into the city, compared with Lawrence, where 8 out of 10 stayed in the city. Keeping Topeka’s historic share of county growth could have meant roughly 23,000 more residents and several million dollars more in annual revenue.
• Three-tier growth framework:
  • Tier 1 (highest priority): Existing city limits. These areas already have (or can readily receive) the five basic services—police, fire, water, sewer, and roads. Emphasis is on reinvestment in the core, infill, and higher density rather than abandoning older neighborhoods.
  • Tier 2: Areas just outside the current limits that are realistic candidates for annexation in the next ~25 years because the five services can be extended without major new investment.
  • Tier 3: Longer-term Urban Growth Area (UGA) that should be planned for but is not ready for near-term inclusion.
• Benefits of the approach: Reusing existing infrastructure and services is far more efficient than extending them outward. Compact, mixed-use, walkable development supports better quality of life, helps attract and retain younger residents and families, and generates higher returns on public investment. Examples highlighted include successful downtown and North Topeka redevelopments (e.g., adaptive reuse of historic buildings and a former junior high school into housing) that significantly increased property values, often aided by historic tax credits and neighborhood revitalization incentives.
• Supporting data and tools: The plan uses more realistic population projections than the 2003 plan. It notes roughly 1,200 vacant lots already inside city limits (potential for ~4,000 additional residents) that already have infrastructure. New planning and utility rules are intended to encourage urban densities as the city grows.

The video closes by framing the plan as a choice: continue costly, low-density sprawl or adopt a more compact, strategic pattern that strengthens existing neighborhoods and makes growth more sustainable and affordable for taxpayers. It directs viewers to topeka.mindmixer.com for public feedback.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMK8alutJHo 

Fw: Activist Judge Blocks Three-day Grace Period Repeal

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From: Rep. Pat Proctor <pat@patproctor4ks.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2026 3:02 PM
To: mcre13@gmail.com <mcre13@gmail.com>
Subject: Activist Judge Blocks Three-day Grace Period Repeal

 

Henry, A radical judge in Douglas County just issued a temporary injunction to block our common-sense law repealing the three-day grace period for mail-in ba

View this email in your browser Support Our Campaign Tomorrow is our most critical reporting deadline of the year, and we are still short of our goal. National Democrats are watching our public finance report closely. If we do not continue to demonstrate financial strength, they will see an opening and focus their resources on our race. With your help, we put up record-setting fundraising numbers in 2025, which helped us clear the primary field. But the real work begins now. My opponent is backed by a massive, out-of-state political action committee supported by foreign billionaires who are desperate to rewrite our election laws. And the Axis of Ballot Harvesting—the ACLU, Loud Light, and the League of Women Voters—likewise awash in foreign money, has been working overtime to beat me and engineer a Democrat takeover of Kansas elections. We have very little time left to build the resources we need to win. I need your help today. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference. Click the button below to invest in our campaign. Contribute ACTIVIST JUDGE BLOCKS THREE-DAY GRACE PERIOD REPEAL An activist judge in Lawrence just issued a temporary injunction to block our common-sense law repealing the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots. This disastrous ruling reinstates a massive vulnerability in our election system after voting is already underway for the August primary. In this edition of the Proctor Election Report, I will discuss this activist court decision, the practical solutions we passed to protect your vote, and why we desperately need the Right to Vote constitutional amendment to hold these rogue judges accountable. “Republican state Rep. Pat Proctor, who is running for secretary of state and is chair of the House elections committee, said the judge’s opinion should be a basis for electing justices to the Kansas Supreme Court. “'This decision represents the worst kind of legislating from the bench – completely subverting the will of the people as expressed overwhelmingly by their elected representatives in the Legislature,' Proctor said. “'And this guy came a hair’s breath from being yet another left-wing activist Supreme Court Justice. I hope Kansans have this decision front of mind as they go to the polls to decide the fate of the Right to Vote amendment,' he said.” Brad Cooper Sunflower State Journal July 16, 2026 Learn More On Thursday morning, Douglas County District Judge Carl Folsom III handed down a poorly-reasoned order that freezes Senate Bill 4. This is the law I carried and passed to eliminate the three-day grace period for mail ballots. Because of this injunction, election officials are now being forced to revert to the flawed 2017 law. Outrageously, this decision came after mail-in ballots have already been sent out to voters! Attorney General Kris Kobach is making an emergency appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court to overturn this unprecedented ruling. He rightly noted that this decision completely upsets an election process that has already begun. I fully support his efforts to ensure that in Kansas, Election Day is actually Election Day, but I don't hold out much hope that our broken, left-wing Kansas Supreme Court will follow the Kansas Constitution and overturn this decision. As Chairman of the House Elections Committee, I fought relentlessly to pass the repeal of the three-day grace period. We successfully overrode Governor Laura Kelly's veto to get Senate Bill 4 signed into law. We did this because the grace period actively harms Kansas voters. The same day that Presiden Trump issued his Executive Order on Election Integrity, which included a call for all states to make Election Day the last day they accept ballots, I led the Kansas Legislature's successful override of the Governor's veto of our repeal of the so-called "three-day grace period."  The organizations I call the "Axis of Ballot Harvesting"--the ACLU and LoudLight chief among them--claim that ending the grace period suppresses votes, but they are ignoring the facts. Under the old rules, any ballot arriving after Election Day had to have a postmark to prove it was mailed on time. But the postal service frequently fails to postmark envelopes. In the 2024 primary election alone, as many as a thousand advance ballots arrived during that three-day window without a postmark, disenfranchising lawful voters simply because a postal worker failed to stamp their envelope. The voters did everything right, but their ballots were thrown out due to a bureaucratic error out of their control.  And this problem will only be worse this year, as the US Postal Service has announced that in the future, they will not postmark ballots until they arrive at central processing facilities. By ending the grace period and requiring all ballots to be received by 7:00 p.m. on Election Night, we removed the need for a postmark entirely. It is a simple fix, adopted by 32 other states, that ensures every valid, legally cast vote is actually counted. Since I began serving you as the Chairman of the House Elections Committee, I have been focused on restoring confidence in our elections by increasing transparency. And one of my biggest wins has been repealing the so-called "three-day grace period," making Election Day once again Election Day. Furthermore, accepting ballots for days after an election, as they do in California, destroys voter confidence. When vote totals keep changing for nearly a week after the polls close, it makes Kansans question the integrity of the entire process. We passed this practical solution to provide absolute transparency and timely results. Unfortunately, Judge Folsom ignored these facts and instead relied on a deeply flawed legal foundation. In his ruling, he cited a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court in Watson v. the Republican National Committee. In that case, which I believe was poorly decided, the highest court in the land upheld a similar mail-in ballot grace period in Mississippi. But even in that decision, the US Supreme Court never mandated a grace period. I warned at the time that the US Supreme Court's refusal to defend Election Day would embolden liberal state judges like Folsom. That is exactly what has happened here. Activist judges are twisting the law to push their political agendas and rewrite our election statutes from the bench. We should not be surprised by Judge Folsom's extreme ruling. He is a radical activist with a history of legislating from the bench. Just two months ago, he issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of our state's ban on gender-mutilation surgery and chemical castration of minors. “Kansas Family Voice, an advocate of the [Right to Vote judicial selection] amendment, cast a warning about Folsom, underscoring that he’s been recommended by a nine-person screening panel for a seat on the Kansas Supreme Court... “'A Douglas County judge appointed by Gov. Laura Kelly blocked the law protecting Kansas children from experimental sex-change operations,' the post said. “'Now that same judge has applied to be on the Kansas Supreme Court with no check from the people of Kansas. The solution is on your ballot: Vote yes on the constitutional amendment to return direct elections for Supreme Court justices,' the post said. “'This is how people check judicial activism,' the post said.” Brad Cooper Sunflower State Journal June 17, 2026 Learn More In that case, Folsom overturned the Help Not Harm Act by inventing a new constitutional right out of whole cloth for parents to demand medical treatments for their children, even if they are illegal. By this logic, a parent could demand heroin or marijuana for their child and the state would have no power to stop them. Folsom sided with the ACLU to strike down protections for Kansas children. This is the exact same judicial overreach we are now seeing applied to our election laws. The Axis of Ballot Harvesting, led by LoudLight and Kansas Appleseed, brought this case as well, fighting to protect their ability to subvert our elections. These groups hide behind a non-profit status to rake in millions in dark money from George Soros, foreign billionaires, and out-of-state special interests and then use it to prosecute lawfare against the people of Kansas. As the Chairman of the House Elections Committee, I am focused on restoring confidence in our elections by combating ballot harvesting. Every time we pass laws to combat ballot harvesting, a group I call the "Axis of Ballot Harvesting"--led by the Soros- and foreign-billionaire-funded ACLU and Loud Light--sues to block them. So lastyear, I carried and passed legislation to ban foreign money in our elections. I know I hit the mark, 'cause they're suing that law, too! Their partner in crime is the Elias Law Group. This is the notorious left-wing law firm that perpetrated the Russia-gate hoax on behalf of Hillary Clinton in 2017.  They're camped out here in Kansas, suing on behalf of the Axis of Ballot Harvesting to block every common-sense election safeguard we pass. They do not want you to have confidence in our elections. They want to keep our voter rolls and ballot procedures vulnerable so the only ballots that get counted are the ones that their allies harvest. This entire debacle highlights exactly why our current judicial system is fundamentally broken. Unelected activist judges like Carl Folsom are using their benches to subvert the will of the people and unravel our practical solutions. We cannot allow radical judges to dictate how Kansas runs its elections. In a recent election decision, the Kansas Supreme Court came within just a single vote of stripping the state legislature of its constitutional authority to write our state's election laws. If just one more justice had flipped, activist judges would have had the power to strike down every common-sense safeguard we've passed—from signature verification to bans on ballot harvesting. It is time for Kansans to Take Back the Court!  This is why we desperately need the Right to Vote constitutional amendment. Currently, Kansas is the only state in the country that uses a nominating commission dominated by unelected lawyers to pick our highest judges. It is a system controlled by political insiders operating behind closed doors. The Right to Vote amendment will abolish this unaccountable commission. It will finally give the citizens of Kansas the right to directly elect our Supreme Court justices. This is a common-sense safeguard that ensures our highest court reflects the values of the people of Kansas. Early voting has started. Please check your local election office for the time and location for early voting in your county. If we do not pass this now, I can almost guarantee that you will never get another opportunity in your lifetimes to fix this broken system. This is the most important question on the ballot this election season! Early voting has started. Get out and vote! As the Chairman of your House Elections Committee, I have fought relentlessly to restore confidence in our elections by increasing transparency. As your next Secretary of State, until we can take back our courts from the radical Left, I will continue that fight, defending the measures we passed against this left-wing lawfare. I produce this weekly newsletter, the Proctor Election Report, because it's important to me, as the Chairman of the House Committee on Elections and a candidate to serve you as Kansas Secretary of State, to keep you informed on the latest developments in Kansas elections. But I also want to focus on the subjects that are of interest to you. Is there a topic you would like me to discuss in a future edition? Do you have feedback or questions on the topics in this edition? Please REPLY to this email. I respond personally to every reply I receive to this newsletter. I look forward to hearing from you! Copyright © 2026 Pat Proctor for Kansas, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in by providing us with your email address. Our mailing address is: Pat Proctor for Kansas PO Box 3421 Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Any solicitation contained herein is not intended for lobbyists, political committees, or persons other than individuals. Paid for by Proctor for Kansas, Amy Cawvey, Treasurer

Dollar General’s scale comes from systematically filling gaps left by larger-format retailers in smaller communities, combined with a simple, low-cost operating model that delivers solid returns on relatively modest capital investment per store.

Dollar General (NYSE: DG) is a public company and the largest U.S. retailer by number of stores. It operates as a small-box discount chain focused on everyday essentials, primarily in rural and underserved markets.

Store Count

As of the end of fiscal 2025 (January 30, 2026), Dollar General operated 20,893 stores (including Dollar General, DG Market, DGX, and pOpshelf formats in the U.S., plus a small number of Mi Súper Dollar General stores in Mexico).

By early May 2026 the count reached about 21,055. Texas leads with nearly 2,000 stores, followed by North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, and Pennsylvania (each over 1,000 in recent tallies). Stores exist in 48 U.S. states.

The company plans roughly 450 new U.S. stores (plus about 10 in Mexico) in fiscal 2026, along with thousands of remodels (Project Renovate and Project Elevate) and a smaller number of relocations. Growth has slowed from prior years’ higher openings as the company balances expansion with remodels and selective closures. Management has estimated roughly 11,000 additional potential U.S. opportunities remain.

Approximately 80% of stores serve towns of 20,000 or fewer people. About 75% of the U.S. population lives within five miles of a Dollar General.

Sales and Financial Snapshot

Fiscal 2025 net sales reached $42.7 billion, up about 5.2% year-over-year. Same-store sales rose 3.0%.

Average sales per store were roughly $2.05 million annually. Sales per square foot ran in the high $260s (around $269 in the latest full-year figures).

Product mix is heavily weighted toward consumables (roughly 80–82% of sales: food, paper, cleaning, health & beauty, etc.), with seasonal items (~10%), home products (~5%), and apparel (~3%). The typical basket is small (often around $15), supporting frequent “fill-in” trips.

Stores average about 7,500 square feet of selling space historically, with newer primary formats targeting ~8,500 square feet (some larger DG Market formats reach ~16,000 sq ft for expanded fresh/perishables). New stores target cash payback in about two years and average returns in the mid-teens (around 16–17%).

The company employs roughly 194,000 people. Market capitalization has fluctuated in the mid-$20 billions in recent 2026 trading.

Headquarters and Leadership

Home office: 100 Mission Ridge, Goodlettsville, Tennessee 37072 (Nashville area).

Founded in 1939 in Scottsville, Kentucky, as J.L. Turner and Son (a wholesale dry-goods business) by James Luther Turner and his son Cal Turner Sr. The first Dollar General store opened in 1955 under the concept that nothing cost more than a dollar. It went public in 1968, was taken private by KKR in a 2007 leveraged buyout, and returned to the public markets via IPO in 2009. Todd Vasos has been a long-serving CEO (with recent leadership transition notes in 2026 announcements).

How They Decide Where to Put Stores (and Density)

Dollar General prioritizes underserved rural and small-town markets with limited competition from big-box retailers. Key elements of the approach include:

• Demographic filters: Areas with roughly 3,000–4,000 households within a 3-mile radius; median household incomes often in the $40,000–$70,000 range (core customers skew lower-income; households under ~$30k–$40k represent a large share of business).
• Convenience and accessibility: High-traffic locations near major roads, easy vehicle/foot access, ample parking, freestanding or strong visibility sites. Preference for places where the nearest full-service grocery or big-box alternative may be several miles away.
• Competition and economics: Analysis of existing retail density, local sales potential, traffic patterns, zoning, and real-estate costs. The small-box, low-capex model works in markets too sparse for Walmart or traditional grocers. They accept some trade-area overlap/cannibalization to lock in good real estate and build density advantages.
• Data-driven process: Real estate team uses population trends, household data, competitor mapping, and site-specific due diligence. New stores are predominantly rural; the company has also expanded into select suburban and metro-edge locations over time.

They do not typically pack many stores into dense urban cores the way convenience chains might. Instead, the model is high store count through broad geographic coverage of smaller communities (one store often serves a modest trade area of a few miles). Density varies sharply by region—very high in parts of the South and Midwest, much lower in the Mountain West or California.

Other Key Points

• Formats and innovation: Traditional Dollar General stores, larger DG Market (more fresh/grocery), smaller DGX convenience-style, and pOpshelf (non-consumables focus; expansion paused for evaluation in recent periods). Ongoing investments in coolers, fresh produce (rolling out to more stores), remodels, and digital (app, delivery partnerships).
• Business model strengths: High convenience, value pricing (many $1 items plus private brands), lean operations, and resilience in lower-income/rural demand. Consumables focus provides relative stability.
• Challenges and recent context: Inventory management improvements, margin recovery efforts after earlier pressures, selective store closures in prior years (while still netting growth), and higher construction costs for new builds.
• International: Early-stage expansion into Mexico.

Dollar General’s scale comes from systematically filling gaps left by larger-format retailers in smaller communities, combined with a simple, low-cost operating model that delivers solid returns on relatively modest capital investment per store. Official sources (investor.dollargeneral.com, SEC filings such as the 10-K/annual report for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2026, and earnings releases) are the best ongoing references for the latest numbers.