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YoY shift: Neutral
Year-over-year tone shift - average net-tone change across Risk Factors and MD&A vs the prior 10-K. This filing is 0.15pp more bullish than last year's.
Why YoY instead of absolute: the LM lexicon has ~6.6× more negative words than positive (legal/risk-disclosure language is heavy on hedging), so every 10-K reads bearish on raw tone. Year-over-year change strips that bias and surfaces the actual shift in management's framing.
Tone shift by section
The two components the gauge averages: how Risk Factors and MD&A each shifted in net tone versus last year's 10-K. The headline above is their average, so a green needle over a soft section just means the other section carried it.
Risk Factors
+0.03pp
Flat
Net-tone change vs last year's 10-K.
MD&A
+0.26pp
Flat
Net-tone change vs last year's 10-K.
Per-snippet highlights
Sentence-level sentiment highlighting with category and subcategory filters is coming once the snippet-scoring pipeline lands. For now, dig into the actual section text on the Sections tab.
Language change vs prior 10-K
Risk Factors (Item 1A) - words with the biggest YoY frequency increase
Negative rising
adversely+3
negative+2
conflict+2
inaccurate+2
adverse+1
Positive rising
able+2
successfully+1
improve+1
stable+1
opportunity+1
Risk Factors (Item 1A)
9,033 words
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Investment in our Company involves risks. You should carefully consider the risks described below together with all other information included or incorporated in this report and other filings that we make from time to time with the SEC, including but not limited to our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and the information included under the headings “Business” included in Part I, Item 1, and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in Part II, Item 7. Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, the risks that we face are not limited to those described below and those set forth in our SEC filings. References to past events are provided by way of example only and are not intended to be a complete listing or a representation as to whether such factors have occurred in the past or their likelihood of occurring in the future. Our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity could also be adversely affected by additional factors that apply to all companies generally or by risks not currently known to us or that we currently view to be immaterial. We can provide no assurance and make no representation that our risk mitigation efforts, although we believe they are reasonable, will be successful.
Language change vs prior 10-K
MD&A (Item 7) - words with the biggest YoY frequency increase
Negative rising
adversely+1
invalidated+1
Positive rising
improvement+2
opportunity+2
stable+2
improvements+1
benefit+1
MD&A (Item 7)
8,865 words
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This discussion and analysis should be read with, and is qualified in its entirety by, the Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto. It also should be read in conjunction with the Cautionary Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and the Risk Factors disclosures set forth in the Introduction and in Item 1A of this report, respectively.
Executive Overview
We are the largest discount retailer in the United States by number of stores, with 20,959 stores located in 48 U.S. states and Mexico as of February 27, 2026, with the greatest concentration of stores in the southern, southwestern, midwestern and eastern United States. We offer a broad selection of merchandise, including consumable products such as food, paper and cleaning products, health and beauty products and pet supplies, and non-consumable products such as seasonal merchandise, home decor and domestics, and basic apparel. Our merchandise includes national brands from leading manufacturers, as well as our own private brand selections with prices often at substantial discounts to national brands. We offer our customers these national brand and private brand products at everyday low prices (typically $10 or less) from our convenient small-box locations.
We believe our convenient store formats, locations, and broad selection of high-quality products at compelling values have driven our substantial growth and financial over the years and through a variety of economic cycles. We are mindful that the majority of our customers are value-conscious, and many have low and/or fixed incomes. As a result, we are intensely focused on helping our customers make the most of their spending dollars. The primary macroeconomic factors that affect our core customers include and underemployment rates, inflation, wage growth, changes in federal and state tax policies, interest rates, changes in U.S. and global trade policy (including price increases resulting from tariffs), and changes in U.S. government policy and assistance programs (including cost of living adjustments and work requirements), such as SNAP, benefits, and economic stimulus programs. Finally, significant unseasonable or unusual weather patterns or extreme weather can impact customer shopping behaviors.
Economic factors may reduce our customers’ confidence and spending, impair our ability to execute our strategies and initiatives, and increase our costs and expenses, which could result in materially decreased sales and/or profitability.
Many of our customers have fixed or low incomes and limited discretionary spending dollars. Any factor that could adversely affect their disposable income could decrease our customers’ confidence and spending or cause them to shift their spending to our lower margin product choices, which could result in materially decreased sales and/or profitability. Factors that could reduce, and in many cases have reduced, our customers’ disposable income include but are not limited to high unemployment or underemployment levels or decline in real wages; inflation; pandemics; higher fuel and energy costs (including those related to the conflict in the Middle East); healthcare, housing and product costs; higher interest rates, consumer debt levels, and tax rates; lack of available credit; tax law changes that negatively affect credits and refunds; and decreases in, or elimination of, government assistance programs or subsidies such as unemployment and food/nutrition assistance programs (for example, changes to the work requirement minimum standards for qualification enacted in 2025, and beginning in January 2026, certain states’ exclusion of historically covered product categories), student loan repayment forgiveness, health insurance subsidies, and economic stimulus payments.
Many of the economic factors listed above, as well as commodity rates; transportation, lease and insurance costs; wage rates (including the possibility of increased federal and further increased state and/or local minimum wage rates); foreign exchange rate fluctuations; measures that create barriers to or increase the costs of international trade (including, if we are not able to mitigate them, sustained higher import duties or tariffs on both the products that we sell and those that we use in our business); changes in applicable laws and regulations (including tax laws related to the corporate tax rate and the expiration of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (“WOTC”)); and other economic factors, also could impair our ability to successfully execute our strategies and initiatives, as well as increase our cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses (including real estate and building costs), and may have other adverse consequences that we are unable to fully anticipate or control, all of which may materially decrease our sales or profitability.
While accelerating levels of inflation in the United States have moderated since 2023, inflation remains elevated in certain areas, including food. If food inflation (and in particular, “food at home,” which moderately accelerated in 2025) rapidly accelerates again, we may not be able to adjust prices sufficiently to offset the effect without negatively impacting customer demand or our overall gross margin. Additionally, to the extent that these inflationary pressures result in a recessionary environment, we may experience material adverse effects on our business, results of operations and cash flows. For more information, see the “Executive Overview” section of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, included in Part II, Item 7 of this report.
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Our plans depend significantly on strategies, initiatives and investments designed to increase sales and profitability and improve the efficiencies, costs and effectiveness of our operations, and failure to achieve or sustain these plans could materially affect our results of operations.
We have short-term and long-term strategies, initiatives and investments (such as those relating to merchandising, real estate and new store development, mature stores and store remodels (including Project Elevate), international expansion, store formats and concepts (including pOpshelf), digital, marketing, shrink, damages, sourcing, private brand, inventory management, supply chain, private fleet, store operations, expense reduction, and technology) in various stages of testing, evaluation, and implementation, which are designed to continue to improve our results of operations and financial condition. The effectiveness of these initiatives is inherently uncertain, even when tested successfully, and is dependent on a number of factors such as consistency of training and execution, workforce stability, ease of execution and scalability, and customer adoption, as well as the absence of offsetting factors that can influence results adversely. The number and diverse geographic locations of our stores and distribution centers and our decentralized day-to-day field management also contribute to the challenging nature of these factors. Other risk factors described herein also could negatively affect general implementation. Failure to achievesuccessful or cost-effective implementation of our initiatives could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2024, we recorded a significant impairment expense, the majority of which relates to pOpshelf stores.
The success of our merchandising initiatives, particularly those related to non-consumable products (including pOpshelf) and efforts to increase sales of higher margin products within the consumables category, further depends in part upon our ability to accurately predict the products that our customers will demand and to accurately identify and timely respond to evolving trends in consumer preferences and demographic mixes in our markets. If we are unable to select and timely obtain products that are attractive to customers and at costs that allow us to sell them at an acceptable profit, or to effectively market such products, it could result in materially decreased sales and profitability. While we saw slight improvement in our sales mix in 2025 as compared to the prior year, our sales mix remains heavily weighted towards consumables, and there is no guarantee that these initiatives will continue to improve our sales mix. Additionally, factors negatively affecting our customers’ disposable income and consumer sentiment, such as the economic factors discussed above, can have a larger negative impact on non-consumables sales results than consumables sales results and on our pOpshelf concept.
The success of DG Media Network, which is our platform for connecting brand partners with our customers to drive even greater value for each, further depends on our ability to successfully gather target customer audiences (which may, in turn, depend upon the success of our various digital initiatives) that deliver consistent, predictable and beneficial returns on advertising spending to generate interest and demand from our brand partners, as well as to properly handle and secure all sensitive customer data.
We face intense competition that could limit our growth opportunities and materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
The retail business is highly competitive with respect to price, customers, store location, merchandise quality, product assortment and presentation, service offerings, product sourcing and supply chain capacity, in-stock consistency, customer service, ease of shopping experience (including but not limited to various modes of shopping, including online alternatives and delivery), promotional activity, employees, and market share. We compete with discount stores and, to varying degrees, other retailers, including mass merchandise, convenience, variety, drug, grocery, warehouse club, online retailers, and certain specialty stores. To maintain our competitive position, we may be required to lower prices, either temporarily or permanently, and may have limited ability to increase prices in response to increased costs, resulting in lower margins and reduced profitability. Certain of our competitors have greater financial, distribution, marketing and other resources, and may be able to secure better arrangements with suppliers, than we. Furthermore, if our competitors or third parties incorporate artificial intelligence into their businesses more quickly or more successfully than us, it could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations, or if our use of artificial intelligence is inaccurate or ineffective, our competitive position could be adversely affected.
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Competition is intense, and is expected to continue to be so, with certain competitors reducing their store locations while others enter or increase their presence in our geographic and product markets (including through the expansion of availability of delivery services) and expand availability of mobile, web-based and other digital technologies to facilitate a more convenient and competitive online and in-store shopping experience. We currently do not offer traditional online shopping to a significant degree and have seen a greater willingness of our customers to adopt online shopping generally. In addition, if our competitors or others were to enter our industry sector in a significant way, including through alliances or other business combinations, it could significantly alter the competitive dynamics of the retail marketplace and result in competitors with greatlyimproved competitive positions, which could materially affect our financial performance. Our ability to effectively compete will depend substantially upon our continued ability to develop and execute compelling and cost-effective strategies and initiatives. If we fail to anticipate or respond effectively to competitive pressures, industry changes and customer preferences and shopping habits, it could materially affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Operational Risks
If we cannot timely and cost-effectively execute our real estate projects and timely meet our financial expectations, or if we do not anticipate or successfully address the challenges imposed by our expansion, including into new countries or domestic markets, states, or urban or suburban areas, it could materially impede our planned future growth and our profitability.
Delays in or failure to complete a significant portion of our real estate projects, or failure to meet our financial expectations for these projects, could materially and adversely affect our growth and our profitability. Our ability to timely and profitably open, relocate and remodel stores and expand into additional market areas is a key component of our planned future growth and may depend in part on: the availability of suitable store locations and capital funding; the absence of entitlement process, permitting or occupancy delays, including zoning restrictions and moratoria on small box discount retail development such as those passed by certain local governments in areas where we operate or seek to operate; supply chain volatility resulting in delivery delays, and in some cases, lack of availability of store equipment, building materials, and store merchandise for resale; the ability to negotiate acceptable lease and development terms (for example, interest rates, real estate development requirements and cost of building materials and labor), to cost-effectively hire and train qualified new personnel, especially store managers, and to identify and accurately assess sufficient customer demand; and general economic conditions. While we continued to experience certain of these factors at historically heightened levels in 2025, to date, they have not materially impaired our ability to complete our planned real estate projects or growth, and thus, have not had a material adverse effect on our financial performance. However, if the levels which we have experienced escalate or remain elevated for an extended period of time, we expect that they could have a material adverse effect on our ability to complete our future planned real estate projects or growth, and in turn, a material adverse effect on our financial performance. Despite inflation moderation and some recent declines in interest rates, both inflation and interest rates remain at elevated levels, which significantly increases our new store opening costs and occupancy costs, pressuring new store returns and influencing our new store growth plans.
We also may not anticipate or successfully address all of the challenges imposed by the expansion of our operations (including our pOpshelf and Mi Super Dollar General store concepts), including into new countries or domestic markets, states or urban or suburban areas where we have limited or no meaningful experience or brand recognition. Those areas may have different regulatory environments, competitive and market conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our existing markets, as well as higher cost of entry and operating costs. These factors and other factors not currently contemplated may cause our new stores to be less profitable than stores in our existing markets, which could slow future growth in these areas or cause one or more of our concepts to be unsuccessful. In addition, many new stores will be located in areas where we have existing stores, which inadvertently may temporarily or permanently divert a larger than anticipated number of customers and sales from our existing stores, thereby adversely affecting our overall financial performance. In the first quarter of 2025, we closed 45 pOpshelf stores and converted an additional six to Dollar General stores, as well as incurred significant impairment charges, the majority of which relate to the pOpshelf stores. Although we took focused action in 2025 to improve the performance of pOpshelf stores and will continue to do so in 2026, there can be no assurances that our efforts will be successful.
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Inventory shrinkage and damages may negatively affect our results of operations and financial condition.
We experience significant inventory shrinkage and damages. Although some level of inventory shrinkage and damages is an unavoidable cost of doing business, higher rates of inventory shrinkage and damages or increased security measures or other costs to combat inventory theft could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, sustained high rates of inventory shrink at certain stores have historically contributed, and inventory shrink and/or damages may contribute, to the closure of certain stores and the impairment of long-term assets in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in our efforts to contain or reduce inventory shrinkage and damages.
Our cash flows from operations, profitability and financial condition may be negatively affected if we are not successful in managing our inventory balances.
Our inventory balance represented approximately 44% of our total assets exclusive of goodwill, operating lease assets, and other intangible assets as of January 30, 2026. Efficient inventory management is a key component of our business success and profitability. We must maintain sufficient inventory levels and an appropriate product mix to meet our customers’ demands without allowing those levels to increase such that the costs to store and hold the goods unduly impacts our financial results, increases the risk of inventory shrinkage or damages or impacts store standards. If we do not accurately predict customer trends, spending levels, or price sensitivity, we may have to take unanticipated or greater-than-anticipated markdowns to dispose of the excess inventory, which also can adversely affect our financial results. We continue to focus on ways to reduce these risks and ensure the right products are on the shelves for our customers, but we cannot make assurances that we will be successful in our inventory management. If we are not successful in managing our inventory balances, our cash flows from operations and financial condition may be negatively affected.
Failure to maintain the security of our business, customer, employee or vendor information or to comply with privacy laws could expose us to litigation, government enforcement actions and costly response measures, and could materially harm our reputation and affect our business and financial performance.
In connection with sales, we transmit confidential credit and debit card information which is encrypted using point-to-point encryption. We also have access to, collect or maintain certain private or confidential information regarding our customers, employees and their dependents, and vendors, as well as our business. Some of this information is stored electronically in connection with our e-commerce and mobile applications, some of which may leverage third-party service providers. Additionally, we may share information with and depend upon select vendors to assist us in conducting our business. While we have implemented procedures and technology intended to protect such information and require appropriate controls of our vendors, external attackers could compromise such controls and result in unauthorized disclosure of such information, as attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, may include attacks on our third-party business partners, and do not always or immediately produce detectable indicators of compromise. Moreover, inadvertent or malicious internal personnel actions could result in a defeat of security measures and a compromise of our or our third-party vendors’ information systems. Furthermore, if a vendor is the victim of a cyberattack, including a ransomware attack, such attack could have a corresponding material effect on our ability to do business with that vendor or to receive information that may be required to timely prepare our financial statements. Due to the political tensions involving China, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, there is an increased likelihood that escalation of tensions could result in cyberattacks that could directly or indirectly impact our operations. Like other retailers, we and our vendors have experienced threats to, and incidents involving, data and systems, including by perpetrators of attempted random or targeted malicious attacks; computer malware, ransomware, bots, or other destructive or disruptive hardware and/or software; and attempts to misappropriate our and our customers’ information and cause system failures and disruptions, although to date none have been material to our business. If attackers obtain customer, employee or vendor passwords through unrelated third-party breaches, and if impacted customers, employees, or vendors do not employ good online security practices (e.g., use the same password across different sites or do not use available multifactor authentication options), these passwords could be used to gain access to their information or accounts with us in certain situations.
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Because we accept debit and credit cards for payment, we are subject to industry data protection standards and protocols, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, issued by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. Nonetheless, we or our applicable payment processing partner(s), may be vulnerable to, and unable to detect and appropriately respond to, cardholder data security breaches and data loss, including successful attacks on applications, systems, or networks. Further, we pay interchange and other processing fees related to our acceptance of debit and credit card payments, and these fee amounts could continue to increase over time, as a result of customers shifting their payments from cash to credit/debit card and/or our fee rates rising, thereby raising our operating costs.
A significant security breach of any kind experienced by us or one of our vendors, which could be undetected for a period of time, or a significant failure by us or one of our vendors to comply with applicable privacy and information security laws, regulations, standards, and related reporting requirements could expose us to risks of data loss, litigation, government enforcement actions, fines or penalties, credit card brand assessments, negative publicity and reputational harm, business disruption and costly response measures (e.g., providing notification to, and credit monitoring services for, affected individuals, as well as further upgrades to our security measures; procuring a replacement vendor if one of our current vendors is unable to fulfill its obligations to us due to a cyberattack or incident) which may not be covered by or may exceed the coverage limits of our insurance policies, and could materially disrupt our operations. Any resulting negative publicity could significantly harm our reputation which could cause us to lose market share because of customers discontinuing the use of our e-commerce and mobile applications or debit or credit cards in our stores or not shopping in our stores altogether and could materially and adversely affect our business and financial performance.
Material damage or interruptions to our information systems as a result of external factors, staffing shortages or challenges in maintaining or updating our existing technology or developing or implementing new technology could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We depend on a variety of information technology systems, including systems owned and managed by third-party vendors, for the efficient functioning of our business, including, without limitation, transaction processing and the management of our employees, facilities, logistics, inventories, stores and customer-facing digital applications and operations. Such systems are subject to damage or interruption from power surges and outages, facility damage, physical theft, computer and telecommunications failures, inadequate or ineffective redundancy, malicious code (including malware, ransomware, or similar), successful attacks (e.g., account compromise; phishing; denial of service; and application, network or system vulnerabilityexploitation), software upgrade failures or code defects, natural disasters and human error. Due to the political tensions involving China, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, there is an increased likelihood that escalation of tensions could result in cyberattacks that could either directly or indirectly impact our operations. A system breach or failure, design defects, damage to, or interruption to these systems may require a significant investment to repair or replace, disrupt our operations and affect our ability to meet business and reporting requirements, result in the loss or corruption of critical data, and harm our reputation, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business or results of operations. Additionally, costs and complexities of securing our systems againstfailure or attack continue to increase.
Our technology initiatives may not deliver desired results or may do so on a delayed schedule. We rely heavily on our information technology staff to fulfill our technology initiatives while continuing to provide maintenance on existing systems, as well as on third parties to maintain and periodically upgrade many of these systems so that they can continue to support our business. Further, we license the software programs supporting many of our systems from independent software developers. The inability or failure of these vendors, developers or us to continue to maintain and upgrade these systems and software programs or efficiently implement and integrate new systems could disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations or retain vulnerabilityexploitation risk if we were unable to convert to alternate systems in an efficient and timely manner and could expose us to greater risk of a successful attack. There are also risks associated with our continued integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning within our technology systems (for example, if the types of information that applications with embedded artificial intelligence assist in producing are or are alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, or biased, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected). In addition, costs and delays for any reason associated with the implementation of new or upgraded systems and technology, including our current migration of
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applications to the cloud, modernization of legacy systems (including our Finance and Human Resources enterprise resource planning system and our inventory replenishment system) and our new point of sale system, or with maintenance or adequate support of existing systems also could disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations, fail to operate as designed, result in the potential loss or corruption of data or information or lost sales, cause business interruptions, inhibit our ability to innovate, and affect our ability to meet business and reporting requirements and adversely affect our profitability.
A significant disruption to our distribution network, the capacity of our distribution centers or the timely receipt of inventory could adversely affect sales or increase our transportation costs, which would decrease our profitability.
We rely on our distribution and transportation network to provide goods to our stores timely and cost-effectively. Using various transportation modes, including ocean, rail, and truck, we and our vendors move goods from vendor locations to our distribution centers and our stores, and we also lease additional temporary warehouse space as necessary to support our distribution needs. Any disruption, unanticipated or unusual expense or operational failure related to this process (including, without limitation, inventory receipt and delivery delays; increases in fuel costs; increases in transportation costs, including increased import freight costs, carrier or driver wages (as a result of driver shortages or otherwise); earlier than expected receipt of seasonal inventory leading to capacity constraints which can be exacerbated by unexpecteddelays in acquiring additional temporary warehouse space sufficient for our inventory needs; a decrease in transportation capacity for overseas shipments or port closures; labor shortages; or work stoppages or slowdowns) could negatively impact sales and profits. Labor shortages or work stoppages or slowdowns in the transportation industry or disruptions to the national and international transportation infrastructure that necessitate our securing alternative labor or shipping suppliers could also increase our costs or otherwise negatively affect our business.
We maintain a network of distribution facilities and expect to build or lease new facilities (including temperature-controlled distribution centers) to support our growth objectives and strategic initiatives. Delays in opening such facilities could adversely affect our financial performance by slowing store growth or the rollout/development of certain strategic initiatives, which may in turn reduce revenue growth and/or profitability, or by increasing transportation and product costs. In addition, distribution-related construction or expansion projects entail risks that could cause delays and cost overruns, such as: availability of temperature-controlled distribution centers and refrigerated transportation equipment; shortages of materials or skilled labor; work stoppages; unforeseen construction, scheduling, engineering, environmental or geological problems; weather interference; fires or other casualty losses; and unanticipated cost increases. For these reasons, the completion date and ultimate cost of these projects could differ significantly from initial expectations, and we cannot guarantee that any project will be completed on time or within established budgets.
Risks associated with or faced by our suppliers could adversely affect our financial performance.
We source our merchandise from a wide variety of domestic and international suppliers, and we depend on them to supply merchandise in a timely and efficient manner and in the large volumes that we may require. In 2025, our two largest suppliers accounted for approximately 11% and 8% respectively, of our purchases. If one or more of our current sources of supply became unavailable or no longer offered us acceptable pricing terms, we believe we generally would be able to obtain alternative sources, but it could increase our merchandise costs and supply chain lead time and expenses, result in a temporary reduction in store inventory levels, and reduce the selection and quality of our merchandise. An inability to obtain alternative sources could materially decrease our sales. Additionally, if a supplier fails to deliver on its commitments, we could experience merchandise out-of-stocks that could lead to lost sales and reputational harm. Further, failure of suppliers to meet our compliance protocols could prolong our procurement lead time, resulting in lost sales and adverse margin impact.
We directly imported approximately 4% of our purchases (measured at cost) in 2025, but many of our domestic vendors directly import their products or components of their products. Changes to the prices and flow of these goods often are for reasons beyond our control, such as political or civil unrest, acts of war, disruptive global political events (for example, political tensions involving China, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East), currency fluctuations, tariffs and duties, disruptions in maritime lanes, port labor
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disputes, economic conditions and instability in countries in which foreign suppliers are located, the financial instability of suppliers, suppliers’ failure to meet our terms and conditions or our standards, issues with our suppliers’ labor practices or labor problems they may experience (such as strikes, stoppages or slowdowns, which could also increase labor costs during and following the disruption), the availability and cost of raw materials, pandemic outbreaks, merchandise quality or safety issues, transport availability and cost, increases in wage rates and taxes, transport security, inflation, and other factors relating to suppliers and the countries in which they are located or from which they import. Such changes could adversely affect our operations and profitability.
While we are working to diversify our sources of imported goods to include Southeast Asia, India, South America and Mexico, a substantial amount of our imported merchandise comes from China, and thus, a change in the Chinese leadership, the effects of pandemic outbreaks, economic and market conditions, internal economic stimulus actions, or currency or other policies, as well as trade and other relations between China and the United States and increases in costs of labor, could negatively impact our merchandise costs. In addition, the United States’ foreign trade policies, duties, tariffs and other impositions on imported goods, trade sanctions imposed on certain countries (particularly China) and entities, import limitations on certain types of goods or goods containing certain materials and other factors relating to foreign trade, including but not limited to port labor agreements, are beyond our control. In 2025, the U.S. administration imposed additional tariffs across many of our global trading partners, including China, the European Union, Canada, India, and various countries located in Southeast Asia. These and other factors affecting our suppliers and our access to products, if we are not able to offset them, could adversely affect our business and financial performance. If we increase our product imports from foreign vendors, the risks associated with these imports also will increase, and we may be exposed to additional or different risks as we increase imports of goods produced in countries other than China.
Failure to attract, develop and retain qualified employees while controlling labor costs, as well as other labor issues, including employee safety issues, could adversely affect our financial performance.
Our future growth and performance, positive customer experience and legal and regulatory compliance depends on our ability to attract, develop, retain and motivate qualified employees while operating in an industry that has historically been challenged by high rates of employee turnover. Our ability to meet our labor needs, while controlling our labor costs, is subject to many external factors, including competition for and availability of qualified personnel, unemployment levels, wage rates and salary levels (including the possibility of increased federal and further increased state and/or local minimum wage rates/salary thresholds), health and other insurance costs, changes in employment and labor laws or other workplace regulations (including those relating to employee benefit programs such as health insurance and paid leave programs), employee expectations and productivity, employee activism, employee safety issues, and our reputation and relevance within the labor market. If we are unable to attract, develop and retain adequate numbers of qualified employees, our operations, customer service levels, legal and regulatory compliance, and support functions could suffer. In addition, to the extent a significant portion of our employee base unionizes, or attempts to unionize, our labor and other costs could increase, and if the federal government adopts or imposes regulatory or other changes to existing law that could facilitate union organizing or otherwise restrict employer actions, it could have an adverse effect on our business. Our ability to pass along labor and other related costs to our customers is constrained by our everyday low-price model, and we may not be able to offset such increased costs elsewhere in our business.
Our success depends on our executive officers and other key personnel. If we lose key personnel or are unable to hire additional qualified personnel, our business may be harmed.
Our future success depends to a significant degree on the skills, experience and efforts of our executive officers and other key personnel. The unexpectedloss of the services of any of such persons could adversely affect our operations. In addition, our executive succession planning, retention and hiring efforts, and ability to successfully execute management transitions within our senior leadership are critical to our business success. Competition for skilled and experienced management personnel is intense, and a failure to attract and retain new qualified personnel or our inability to enforce non-compete agreements that we have in place with our management personnel could adversely affect our operations and/or our ability to meet our legal, regulatory, accounting and/or reporting obligations.
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Natural disasters and unusual or extreme weather conditions (whether or not caused by climate change), pandemic outbreaks or other health crises, political or civil unrest, acts of war, violence or terrorism, and disruptive global political events could disrupt business, affect consumer sentiment or shopping patterns, and result in lower sales and/or profitability and otherwise adversely affect our financial performance.
The occurrence of one or more natural disasters, such as hurricanes, fires, floods, tornadoes and earthquakes, unusual or extreme weather conditions, pandemic outbreaks or other health crises, political or civil unrest, acts of war, violence or terrorism (including within our stores, distribution centers or other Company property), or disruptive global political events (for example, the political tensions involving China, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East) or similar disruptions could adversely affect our business, financial performance and reputation. If any of these events result in the closure, or a limitation on operating hours, of one or more of our distribution centers, a significant number of stores, our sourcing offices, our corporate headquarters or data center or impact one or more of our key suppliers, our operations and financial performance could be materially and adversely affected through an inability or reduced ability to make deliveries, process payroll or provide other support functions to our stores and through lost sales. These events also could affect consumer sentiment or shopping patterns or prevent customers from reaching our stores, which could lead to lost sales and higher markdowns, or result in increases in fuel or other energy prices (including those related to the conflict in the Middle East), fuel shortage(s), new store or distribution center opening delays, the temporary lack of an adequate work force in a market, the temporary or long-term disruption of product availability in our stores, the temporary or long-term inability to obtain or access technology needed to effectively run our business, disruption of our utility services or information systems, and damage to our reputation. These events may also increase the costs of insurance if they result in significant loss of property or other insurable damage or loss by us or in the market more generally. These events may also exacerbate the economic impacts to our business and our customers as discussed above.
Furthermore, if realized, the long-term impacts of global climate change present the possibility of both physical risks (such as extreme weather conditions or rising sea levels) and transition risks (such as regulatory changes), which may be widespread and are unpredictable. Over time, these changes, as well as regulatory efforts related thereto, could affect our operating costs (for example, the availability and cost of products, commodities and energy (including utilities)), which in turn may impact our ability to procure goods and services required for the operation of our businesses at the quantities and levels and at the costs we require. In addition, our operations and facilities may be located in areas impacted by the physical risks of climate change, and we face the risk of losses incurred as a result of physical damage to stores, distribution centers, or our corporate offices, as well as loss or spoilage of inventory, business interruption caused by such events, and increased construction, repairs and maintenance costs at impacted locations. We also use natural gas, diesel fuel, gasoline, electricity and plastics in our operations, all of which may face increased regulation relating to climate change or other environmental concerns. Regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions, energy inputs and plastics use may also increase in coming years, which may increase our costs associated with compliance, merchandise purchases and supply chain. These events and their impacts could otherwise disrupt and adversely affect our operations, potentially impact customer purchasing behaviors, and could adversely affect our financial performance.
Product liability, product recall or other product safety or labeling claims could adversely affect our business, reputation and financial performance.
We depend on our vendors to ensure that the products we buy from them comply with applicable product safety and labeling laws and regulations and to inform us of all applicable restrictions on the sale of such products. Nonetheless, product liability, personal injury, consumer protection or other claims may be asserted against us relating to alleged product contamination, adulteration, tampering, expiration, mislabeling, recall, prohibited substances and other safety or labeling issues.
We seek but may not be successful in obtaining contractual indemnification and insurance coverage for product-related claims and issues from our vendors. If we do not have adequate contractual indemnification or insurance available, or our vendors fail to adhere to their obligations to us, such claims could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our ability to obtain indemnification from foreign vendors may be hindered by our ability to obtain jurisdiction over them to enforce contractual
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obligations. Even with adequate insurance and indemnification, such claims could significantly harm our reputation and consumer confidence in our products, and we could incur significant litigation expenses, which also could materially affect our results of operations even if a product-related claim is unsuccessful or not fully pursued, as well as lost sales during the period of time between recall and backfilling the recalled product.
Our current insurance program may expose us to unexpected costs and negatively affect our financial performance.
Our insurance coverage reflects deductibles, self-insured retentions, limits of liability and similar provisions that we believe are prudent based on our operations. However, there are types of losses we may incur but against which we cannot be insured or which we believe are not economically reasonable to insure, such as losses due to acts of war, certain crimes (including employee crime), certain wage and hour and other employment-related claims and litigation, actions based on certain consumer protection laws, and some natural and other disasters (including, without limitation, fires and floods) or similar events. If we incur material uninsuredlosses, our financial performance could be negatively impacted. Certain material events have resulted, and may result again in the future, in sizable losses for the insurance industry and adversely affect the availability of adequate insurance coverage or result in excessive premium increases. To offset negative insurance market trends, we may elect to self-insure, accept higher deductibles or reduce the amount of coverage. In addition, we self-insure a significant portion of expected losses under our workers’ compensation, auto liability, general liability (including claims made against certain of our landlords), property loss, and group health insurance programs. Significant changes in actuarial assumptions and management estimates underlying our recorded liabilities for these losses, including any expected increases in medical and indemnity costs, could result in materially different expenses than expected under these programs, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Although we maintain property insurance to cover insurable losses resulting from, for example, fires and storms, at our store support center and distribution centers, we are effectively self-insured for other property losses. If we experience a greater number of these self-insured losses than we anticipate, our financial performance could be adversely affected.
Failure to protect our reputation could adversely affect our business.
Our success depends in part on the protection of the reputation of Dollar General and the products and services we sell, including our private brands. Failure to comply or accusation of failure to comply, even if unfounded, with ethical, social, product, labor, data privacy, consumer protection, safety, political, environmental and other applicable standards could jeopardize our reputation and potentially lead to various adverse employee, consumer, vendor, shareholder, or non-governmental organization (NGO) actions, workforce unrest or walkouts, boycotts, litigation and governmental actions, inquiries, or investigations and/or require a costly response. In addition, our responses to issues and crises and our position or perceived lack of position on certain issues (e.g., public policy, social, political, or environmental issues) or our corporate responsibility- and sustainability-related efforts, and any perceived lack of transparency about such matters, could harm our reputation and potentially lead to adverse employee, consumer, governmental (including elected officials), regulatory, shareholder or NGO actions, including negative or false public statements and campaigns. Similar incidents or factors involving vendors, partners and other third parties with whom we conduct business also may affect our reputation. Media reports and public comments made by anyone, including without limitation current and former employees, customers, vendors, elected officials, community leaders and activists, on any external platform (including, without limitation, social media, news media, blogs, websites, or newsletters), whether or not they are accurate, have the potential to influence, and in some instances, have influenced, certain negative or false perceptions of Dollar General, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to prevent such reports or comments in the future. Any failure, or perceived failure, to meet any of our published corporate responsibility- or sustainability-related aspirations or goals, which often may be outside of our control, or any future changes to our published aspirations or goals could adversely affect public perception of our business, employee morale or customer, vendor, elected official, or shareholder support. In addition, we may face criticism as a result of either “anti-ESG” or “pro-ESG” sentiment among governmental authorities, regulators, shareholders, employees, customers and/or the public. Negative reputational incidents could adversely affect our business through declines in customer loyalty, vendor partnerships, lost sales, loss of new/relocated store and development opportunities, or employee retention and recruiting difficulties and could also
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result in loss of shareholder support and trust and require us to expend disproportional resources toward these matters.
Our private brands may not be successful in improving our gross profit rate at our expected levels and may increase certain of the risks we face.
The sale of private brand items is an important component of our sales growth and gross profit rate enhancement plans. Broad market acceptance of our private brands depends on many factors, including pricing, quality, customer perception, and timely development and introduction of new products. We cannot give assurance that we will achieve or maintain our expected level of private brand sales. The sale and expansion of these offerings also subjects us to or increases certain risks, such as: product-related claims and recalls; disruptions in raw material and finished product supply and distribution chains; inability to successfully protect our proprietary rights; claims related to the proprietary rights of third parties; supplier labor and human rights issues, and other risks generally encountered by entities that source, sell and market exclusive branded offerings for retail. Failure to appropriately address these risks could materially and adversely affect our private brand initiatives, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.
Because our business is somewhat seasonal, adverse events during the fourth quarter could materially affect our financial statements as a whole.
Our most profitable sales mix generally occurs in the fourth quarter primarily because of sales of Christmas-related merchandise. In anticipation of this holiday, we purchase substantial amounts of seasonal inventory, and if sales fall below seasonal norms or our expectations, it could result in unanticipatedmarkdowns. Adverse events, such as deteriorating or challenging economic conditions, high unemployment rates, high gas or energy prices, transportation disruptions, or unusual or unanticipatedadverse weather could result in lower-than-planned sales during the Christmas selling season, which in turn could reduce our profitability and otherwise adversely affect our financial performance and operating results.
We rely on third parties in many aspects of our business, which creates additional risk.
Due to the scale and scope of our business, we must rely on relationships with third parties, including our suppliers, distributors, landlords, contractors, and external business partners. If we are unable to effectively manage our third-party relationships and the agreements under which our third-party partners operate, our results of operations and cash flows could be adversely impacted. Further, failure of these third parties to meet their obligations to us or substantial disruptions in the relationships between us and these third parties could adversely impact our operations and financial results. Additionally, while we have policies and procedures for managing these relationships, they inherently involve a lesser degree of control over business operations, governance and compliance, thereby potentially increasing our financial, legal, reputational and operational risk.
Financial and Capital Market Risks
Deterioration in market conditions or changes in our credit profile could adversely affect our business operations and financial condition.
We rely on the positive cash flow we generate from our operating activities and our access to the credit and capital markets to fund our operations, growth strategy, and return of cash to our shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Changes in the credit and capital markets, including market disruptions, limited liquidity and interest rate increases, may increase the cost of financing or restrict our access to these potential sources of future liquidity. Our continued access to liquidity sources on favorable terms depends on multiple factors, including our operating performance and credit ratings. In 2025, Standard & Poor’s changed our outlook from “Negative” to “Stable,” and Moody’s changed our rating from Baa2 to Baa3 and our outlook from “Negative” to “Stable.”
Our current increased debt leverage levels have reduced our available capital, and these levels, combined with our desire to maintain our current investment grade credit rating, could reduce our flexibility in planning for or reacting to changes in our industry and market conditions, increase our vulnerability in the event of a downturn in
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our business operations, and/or negatively impact our ability to pursue certain operational and strategic opportunities. In addition, our credit agreement requires us to maintain a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and maximum leverage ratio, as well as a number of customary affirmative and negative covenants. While we were in compliance with these covenants as of January 30, 2026, our future ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control. If we breach any of these covenants and do not obtain a waiver from the lenders, then subject to applicable cure period, our ability to borrow under our credit agreement could be impacted.
Our debt securities currently are rated investment grade, and a downgrade of this rating likely would negatively impact our access to the debt capital markets and increase our cost of borrowing. As a result, disruptions in the debt markets or any downgrade of our credit ratings could adversely affect our business operations and financial condition and our ability to return cash to our shareholders. We can make no assurances that our ability to obtain additional financing through the debt markets will not be adversely affected by economic conditions or that we will be able to maintain or improve our current credit ratings.
The price of our common stock is subject to market and other factors, including our failure to meet market expectations for our performance, and may be volatile.
The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors. These factors, some of which are beyond our control and some of which have occurred in the past few years, include the perceived prospects and actual results of operations of our business, as well as any failure to achieve projected results; changes in estimates of our results of operations by analysts, investors or us, as well as our guidance not aligning with market expectations; trading activity by our large shareholders; trading activity by sophisticated algorithms; performance results of our competitors; actions, news or announcements by us, our competitors, and other third parties; litigation and judicial decisions; legislative or regulatory actions or changes; and changes in general economic or market conditions. In addition, the stock market in general has from time to time experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations, and these market fluctuations could reduce the market price of our common stock for reasons unrelated to our operating performance.
Regulatory, Legal, Compliance and Accounting Risks
A significant change in governmental regulations and requirements could materially increase our cost of doing business, and noncompliance with governmental laws or regulations could materially and adversely affect our financial performance.
We routinely incur significant costs in complying with numerous and frequently changing laws and regulations. The complexity of this regulatory environment and related compliance costs continue to increase due to additional legal and regulatory requirements, our expanding operations, and increased regulatory scrutiny and enforcement efforts. New or revised laws, regulations, orders, policies and related interpretations and enforcement practices, particularly those dealing with the sale of products, including without limitation, product and food safety, marketing, labeling or pricing; information security and privacy; labor and employment; employee wages, salary levels and benefits; health and safety; real property; public accommodations; imports and customs; transportation; intellectual property; taxes; bribery and anti-corruption; climate change; and environmental compliance, may significantly increase our expenses or require extensive system and operating changes that could materially increase our cost of doing business. Violations of applicable laws and regulations or untimely or incomplete execution of a required product recall can result in significant penalties (including loss of licenses, eligibility to accept certain government benefits such as SNAP or significant fines), class action or other litigation, governmental investigation or action and reputational damage. Further, states may enact conflicting laws, mandating changes in operations that negatively impact our ability to execute uniformly and achieve economies of scale across states. Additionally, changes in tax laws and policies (including those related to the federal, state or foreign corporate tax rate), the interpretation of existing laws and policies, the expiration of previously available tax credits, or our failure to sustain our reporting positions on examination could adversely affect our overall effective tax rate. The WOTC expired at the end of the 2025 calendar year, and, if not renewed, the expiration is expected to have a significant negative impact on our future earnings per share. Furthermore, significant and/or rapid increases to federal and further increases to state and/or local minimum wage rates/salary levels could adversely affect our operating results if we are not able to otherwise offset these increased labor costs elsewhere in our business or if changes to our business
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operations are required. Moreover, the adoption of new environmental laws and regulations in connection with climate change and the transition to a low carbon economy, including any federal or state laws enacted to regulate greenhouse gas emissions or require public disclosures related thereto, could significantly increase our operating or merchandise costs or reduce the demand for our products. These laws and regulations may include, but are not limited to, requirements relating to hazardous waste materials, recycling and recycled/recyclable product content, single-use plastics, extended producer responsibility, use of refrigerants, carbon pricing or carbon taxes, product energy efficiency standards and product labeling. If carbon pricing requirements or carbon taxes are adopted, there is a significant risk that the cost of merchandise from our suppliers will increase and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
There is also continued uncertainty surrounding potential changes to the regulatory environment (including, but not limited to, personnel changes at regulatory agencies) in the United States. For example, continued efforts to reform federal government processes and reduce expenditures, as well as pressures on and uncertainty surrounding the U.S. federal government’s budget and political changes in budgeting priorities could continue to adversely affect the funding for individual programs, including government programs, upon which our customers depend. Changes related to immigration, artificial intelligence, and workforce policies and practices, may also impact us. Additional potential regulatory changes related to tax, trade, and economic and monetary policy, among other potential changes, could adversely impact the global economy and our operating results.
Legal proceedings may adversely affect our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our business is subject to the risk of litigation or other legal proceedings by employees, consumers, suppliers, competitors, shareholders, unions, government officials and agencies and others through private actions, class actions, multi-district litigation, arbitrations, derivative actions, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions (including investigations) or other litigation. For example, we are involved in certain legal proceedings as discussed in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements. The outcome of legal proceedings, particularly class action or multi-district litigation or mass arbitrations and regulatory actions, can be difficult to assess or quantify. Plaintiffs in these types of lawsuits, as well as government officials and agencies, may seek recovery of very large or indeterminate amounts, and the magnitude of the potential loss may remain unknown for lengthy periods. In addition, certain of these matters, if decided adversely to us or settled by us and not covered by insurance, may result in liability material to our financial statements as a whole or may negatively affect our operating results if changes to our business operations are required, and sometimes these developments are unanticipated. Legal proceedings in general, and class actions, derivative actions, mass arbitrations, multi-district litigation, and governmental investigations and actions in particular, can be expensive and disruptive, and adverse publicity could harm our reputation, regardless of the validity of the allegations. As a result, legal proceedings may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. See also Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements.
New accounting guidance or changes in the interpretation or application of existing accounting guidance could adversely affect our financial performance.
The implementation of new accounting standards could require certain systems, internal process and controls and other changes that could increase our operating costs and result in changes to our financial statements.
U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business involve many subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by our management. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or in underlying management assumptions, estimates or judgments could significantly change our reported or expected financial performance. The outcome of such changes could include litigation or regulatory actions which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
success
unemployment
unemployment
Uncertainty remains regarding the potential impact of tariffs on consumer behavior and our business. Tariff rates on both direct imports and domestic purchases did not materially impact our financial results in 2025. The tariff environment remains dynamic, and the specific tariffs applicable to goods imported by us and our suppliers into the U.S. may continue to evolve. Currently announced tariff rates, as well as any rate increases or expansions of tariff coverage affecting the products that we sell, could have a significant impact on our business and on our customers’ budgets. Further, on February 20, 2026, the United States Supreme Court invalidated the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Significant uncertainty exists regarding potential tariff refunds and replacement tariffs under other statutes. We continue to monitor developments and to evaluate and implement mitigation strategies to address the potential sales and margin impact of current and potential future tariffs, as well as to take various actions designed to minimize price increases for our customers. There can be no assurance we will be successful in our efforts, or that price increases will not adversely affect customer behavior.
Our core customers are often among the first to be affected by negative or uncertain economic conditions and among the last to feel the effects of improving economic conditions, particularly when trends are inconsistent and of an uncertain duration. Our customers continue to feel constrained in the current macroeconomic environment and to experience elevated expenses that generally comprise a large portion of their household budgets, such as rent, healthcare, energy and fuel prices, as well as cost inflation in frequently purchased household products (including food), which we expect will continue to pressure our customers’ spending overall.
We remain committed to our long-term operating priorities as we consistently strive to improve our performance while retaining our customer-centric focus. These priorities include: 1) driving profitable sales growth, 2) capturing growth opportunities, 3) enhancing our position as a low-cost operator, and 4) investing in the growth and development of our teams.
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We seek to drive profitable sales growth through initiatives aimed at increasing customer traffic and average transaction amount. Historically, sales in our consumables category, which tend to have lower gross margins, have been key drivers of net sales and customer traffic, while sales in our non-consumables categories, which tend to have higher gross margins, have been key drivers of more profitable sales growth and average transaction amount. Our sales mix remains heavily weighted towards consumables, although we saw slight improvement in our sales mix in 2025 compared to the prior year. Certain of our initiatives are intended to better optimize our sales mix; however, there can be no assurances that these efforts will be successful.
As we work to provide everyday low prices and meet our customers’ affordability needs, we remain focused on enhancing our margins through inventory shrink and damage reduction initiatives, as well as pricing and markdown optimization, the DG Media Network (our platform that connects brand partners with our customers), effective category management and inventory reduction efforts, distribution and transportation efficiencies, private brands penetration and global sourcing strategies. Several of our strategic and other sales-driving initiatives are also designed to capture growth opportunities.
Inventory shrink has significantly improved from prior elevated levels, and although damages remain elevated, we made progress reducing damages in 2025. We continue to implement actions designed to drive sustained improvement in both shrink and damages.
We continue to implement and invest in certain strategic initiatives intended to drive profitable sales growth with both new and existing customers and capture long-term growth opportunities. Such initiatives include providing our customers with a variety of shopping access points and even greater value and convenience by leveraging and developing digital tools and technology, such as our Dollar General app, which contains a variety of tools to enhance the shopping experience. We remain focused on enhancing both the in-store and digital shopping experience, while driving operational efficiency. The delivery component of our digital initiatives is becoming a meaningful contributor to our comparable store sales performance. Third-party delivery services and myDG® Delivery are available in the majority of our stores, providing added convenience and incremental sales. We believe these digital efforts will contribute to the continued growth of our DG Media Network.
In 2025, we expanded our efforts to improve the performance and profitability of our mature stores through the rollout of an incremental remodel program, Project Elevate. This partial-remodel initiative is designed to refresh and optimize the merchandising in our stores, and in turn, enhance the shopping experience for our customers, while also potentially mitigating future repairs and maintenance expense. Project Elevate remodels are incremental to our full-remodel program, Project Renovate.
We also remain focused on capturing growth opportunities. In 2025, we opened a total of 589 new stores, including 8 stores in Mexico, remodeled 2,000 stores through Project Renovate and 2,254 stores through Project Elevate, relocated 47 stores and closed 290 stores. In 2026, we plan to open approximately 450 new stores (as well as approximately 10 stores in Mexico), remodel approximately 2,000 stores through Project Renovate, remodel approximately 2,250 stores through Project Elevate, and relocate approximately 20 stores, for a total of 4,730 real estate projects.
pOpshelf, our unique retail concept focused on categories such as seasonal and home décor, health and beauty, home cleaning supplies, and party and entertainment goods, represents an additional potential growth opportunity. At the end of 2025, we operated 180 standalone pOpshelf stores. We continue to take focused actions designed to improve the performance of pOpshelf stores, although there can be no assurances that our efforts will be successful.
We expect store format innovation to allow us to capture additional growth opportunities as we continue to utilize the most productive of our various Dollar General store formats based on the specific market opportunity. In 2025, we began utilizing store formats averaging approximately 8,500 square feet of selling space for the significant majority of new stores. These formats allow for expanded high-capacity-cooler counts, an extended queue line, and a broader product assortment, including an enhanced non-consumable offering, a larger health and beauty section, and produce in select stores.
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We always seek ways to reduce or control costs that do not affect our customers’ shopping experiences. We plan to continue enhancing our position as a low-cost operator over time while employing ongoing cost discipline to reduce certain expenses as a percentage of sales. Nonetheless, we seek to maintain flexibility to invest in the business as necessary to enhance our long-term competitiveness and profitability. From time to time, our strategic initiatives, including without limitation those discussed above, have required and may continue to require us to incur upfront expenses for which there may not be an immediate return in terms of sales or enhancedprofitability.
Certain of our operating expenses, such as wage rates and occupancy costs have continued to increase in recent years, due primarily to market forces such as labor availability, increases in minimum wage rates, inflation, property rents and interest rates. Significant or rapid increases to federal, state or local minimum wage rates or salary levels could significantly adversely affect our earnings if we are not able to otherwise offset these increased labor costs elsewhere in our business.
We believe ongoing inflationary pressures could continue to affect our vendors and customers and our operating results. Both inflation and higher interest rates have significantly increased new store opening costs and occupancy costs in recent years and, while new store returns remain strong, these increased costs have negatively impacted our projected new store returns and influenced our new store growth plans.
Our teams are a competitive advantage, and we proactively seek ways to continue investing in their development. Our goal is to create an environment that attracts, develops, and retains talented personnel, particularly at the store manager level, as employees who are promoted from within our company generally have longer tenures and are greater contributors to improvements in our financial performance. We are taking actions designed to continue reducing our higher than targeted store manager turnover, including through budgeting and allocation of labor hours and simplifying in-store activities.
Key Performance Indicators
We utilize key performance indicators, which are defined below, in the management of our business including same-store sales, average sales per square foot, and inventory turnover. We use these measures to maximize profitability and for decisions about the allocation of resources. Each of these measures is commonly used by investors in retail companies to measure the health of the business.
Same-store sales are calculated based upon our stores that were open at least 13 full fiscal months and remain open at the end of the reporting period. We include stores that have been remodeled, expanded or relocated in our same-store sales calculation. Changes in same-store sales are calculated based on the comparable 52 calendar weeks in the current and prior years. The method of calculating same-store sales varies across the retail industry. As a result, our calculation of same-store sales is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.
Same-store sales
Average sales per square foot is calculated based on total sales for the preceding four quarters as of the ending date of the reporting period divided by the average selling square footage as of the end of the most recent five quarters.
January 30,
January 31,
Average sales per square foot
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Inventory turnover is calculated based on total cost of goods sold for the preceding four quarters as of the ending date of the reporting period divided by the average inventory balance as of the end of the most recent five quarters.
January 30,
January 31,
Inventory turnover
Results of Operations
Accounting Periods. The following text contains references to years 2025, 2024, and 2023, which represent fiscal years ended January 30, 2026, January 31, 2025, and February 2, 2024, respectively. Our fiscal year ends on the Friday closest to January 31. Fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023 were 52-week accounting periods.
Seasonality . The nature of our business is somewhat seasonal. Primarily because of sales of Christmas-related merchandise, operating profit in our fourth quarter (November, December and January) has historically been higher than operating profit achieved in each of the first three quarters of the fiscal year, although this was not the case in 2024 and 2023. Expenses, and to a greater extent operating profit, vary by quarter. Results of a period shorter than a full year may not be indicative of results expected for the entire year. Furthermore, the seasonal nature of our business may affect comparisons between periods.
The following table contains results of operations data for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, and the dollar and percentage variances among those years.
(amounts in millions, except
per share amounts)
Change
Change
Net sales
Cost of goods sold
Gross profit
Selling, general and administrative expenses
Operating profit
Interest expense, net
Other (income) expense
Income before income taxes
Income tax expense
Net income
Diluted earnings per share
Basis Point
Basis Point
(Percent of Net Sales)
Change
Change
Net sales
Cost of goods sold
Gross profit
Selling, general and administrative expenses
Operating profit
Interest expense, net
Other (income) expense
Income before income taxes
Income tax expense
Net income
Net Sales . Net sales in 2025 increased 5.2% primarily due to an increase in same-store sales of 3.0% compared to 2024 and sales from new stores, partially offset by the impact of store closures. The increase in same-store sales reflects a 1.6% increase in customer traffic and a 1.4% increase in average transaction amount. The increase in average transaction amount reflects higher average item retail prices and flat items per transaction. Same-
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store sales increased in the consumables, seasonal, home products and apparel categories. In 2025, our 20,268 same-stores accounted for sales of $41.2 billion.
Net sales in 2024 increased 5.0% primarily due to sales from new stores and an increase in same-store sales of 1.4% compared to 2023, partially offset by the impact of store closures. The increase in same-store sales reflects a 1.1% increase in customer traffic and a 0.3% increase in average transaction amount. The increase in average transaction amount was driven by higher average item retail prices and an increase in items per transaction. Same-store sales increased in the consumables category and declined in the home products, seasonal and apparel categories. In 2024, our 19,633 same-stores accounted for sales of $38.8 billion.
The amount of net sales represented by each of our product categories for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, as well as the percentage change between such periods, were as follows:
(amounts in millions)
Change
Change
Net sales by category:
Consumables
Seasonal
Home products
Apparel
Net sales
The percentage of net sales represented by each of our product categories for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, were as follows:
Net sales by category:
Consumables
Seasonal
Home products
Apparel
Net sales
Gross Profit. In 2025, gross profit increased by 9.0%, and as a percentage of net sales increased by 107 basis points to 30.7%, compared to 2024, primarily driven by lower shrink, higher inventory markups and lower inventory damages, partially offset by an increased LIFO provision.
In 2024, gross profit increased by 2.5%, and as a percentage of net sales decreased by 70 basis points to 29.6%, compared to 2023, primarily driven by increased markdowns, a greater proportion of sales coming from the consumables category and increased inventory damages, partially offset by decreased transportation costs.
SG&A. SG&A as a percentage of net sales was 25.5% in 2025 compared to 25.4% in 2024, an increase of 13 basis points. The primary expenses that were higher as a percentage of net sales in 2025 were incentive compensation and repairs and maintenance, partially offset by lower impairment charges primarily due to the store portfolio optimization review completed in 2024 as discussed in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements.
SG&A as a percentage of net sales was 25.4% in 2024 compared to 24.0% in 2023, an increase of 140 basis points. The increase reflects fourth quarter impairment charges totaling $214.2 million related to the store portfolio optimization review as discussed in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements. Other expenses that were higher as a percentage of net sales in 2024 were retail labor, depreciation and amortization, store occupancy costs and incentive compensation.
Interest Expense, net . Interest expense, net decreased $43.8 million to $230.6 million in 2025 compared to 2024 primarily due to lower average debt balances from the repayment of long-term debt. Interest expense, net, decreased $52.5 million to $274.3 million in 2024 compared to 2023 due to higher average cash balances and the repayment of long-term debt. See the detailed discussion under “Liquidity and Capital Resources” regarding the
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financing of various long-term obligations.
Income Taxes . The effective income tax rate for 2025 was 23.0% compared to a rate of 21.8% for 2024 which represents a net increase of 1.2 percentage points. The effective tax rate was higher in 2025 primarily due to a higher state effective tax rate, enactment of Pillar Two minimum tax, and a decreased benefit from jobs-based tax credits due to higher earnings before taxes diluting the rate impact of the credits.
We receive a significant income tax benefit from wages paid to certain newly hired employees who qualify for federal jobs credits, principally the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (“WOTC”). The WOTC program previously authorized under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 expired for employees hired after December 31, 2025. For 2025, the expiration of the WOTC program had an immaterial impact on our effective tax rate. Absent reauthorization, we will experience a significant negative impact to the effective tax rate in future years.
The effective income tax rate for 2024 was 21.8% compared to a rate of 21.6% for 2023 which represents a net increase of 0.2 percentage points. The effective tax rate was higher in 2024 primarily due to a higher state effective tax rate and a decreased benefit from stock-based compensation partially offset by the effect of certain rate-impacting items on lower earnings before taxes.
Effects of Inflation
In 2025, 2024 and 2023, we experienced increases in product costs due to modest inflationary pressure. In addition, we continued to experience elevated but relatively stable costs of building materials and certain of our other capital costs.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Current Financial Condition and Recent Developments
During the past three years, we have generated an aggregate of approximately $9.0 billion in cash flows from operating activities and incurred approximately $4.3 billion in capital expenditures. During that period, we expanded the number of stores we operate by 1,789, representing store growth of approximately 9%, and we remodeled or relocated 8,143 stores, or approximately 43% of the stores we operated as of the beginning of the three-year period. In 2026, we intend to pursue accelerated growth in remodels, including Projects Elevate and Renovate, with slower growth for new stores and fewer relocations.
At January 30, 2026, we had a $2.375 billion unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Revolving Facility”), $4.5 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes, and a commercial paper program that may provide borrowing availability of up to $2.0 billion. At January 30, 2026, we had total consolidated outstanding debt (including the current portion of long-term obligations) of $4.6 billion, most of which was in the form of senior notes. All of our material borrowing arrangements are described in greater detail below. Our borrowing availability under the Revolving Facility may be effectively limited by our commercial paper notes (“CP Notes”) as further described below. The information contained in Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements contained in Part II, Item 8 of this report is incorporated herein by reference.
We believe our cash flow from operations, and our existing cash balances, combined with availability under the Revolving Facility, CP Notes and access to the debt markets, will provide sufficient liquidity to fund our current obligations, projected working capital requirements, capital spending and anticipated dividend payments for a period that includes the next twelve months as well as the next several years. However, our ability to maintain sufficient liquidity may be affected by numerous factors, many of which are outside of our control. Depending on our liquidity levels, conditions in the capital markets and other factors, we may from time to time consider the issuance of debt, equity or other securities, the proceeds of which could provide additional liquidity for our operations.
For fiscal 2026, we anticipate potential combined borrowings under the Revolving Facility and CP Notes to be a maximum of approximately $400 million outstanding at any one time.
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Revolving Facility
On September 3, 2024, we entered into an amended and restated credit agreement which provides for a $2.375 billion unsecured five-year revolving credit facility and allows for a subfacility for letters of credit of up to $100 million, of which $70 million is currently committed and $30 million is currently uncommitted. The Revolving Facility also includes a subfacility with an available borrowing capacity of up to $50 million for short-term borrowings referred to as swingline loans. The Revolving Facility is scheduled to mature on September 3, 2029.
Borrowings under the Revolving Facility bear interest at a rate equal to an applicable interest rate margin plus, at our option, either (a) Adjusted Term SOFR (which is Term SOFR (as published by CME Group Benchmark Administration Limited) plus a credit spread adjustment of 0.10%) or (b) a base rate (which is usually equal to the prime rate). The applicable interest rate margin for borrowings as of January 30, 2026 was 1.015% for Adjusted Term SOFR borrowings and 0.015% for base-rate borrowings. We must also pay a facility fee, payable on any used and unused commitment amounts of the Revolving Facility, and customary fees on letters of credit issued under the Revolving Facility. As of January 30, 2026, the facility fee rate was 0.11%. The applicable interest rate margins for borrowings, the facility fees and the letter of credit fees under the Revolving Facility are subject to adjustment from time to time based on our long-term senior unsecured debt ratings.
The credit agreement governing the Revolving Facility contains a number of customary affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, restrict, subject to certain exceptions, our (and our subsidiaries’) ability to: incur additional liens; sell all or substantially all of our assets; consummate certain fundamental changes or change in our lines of business; and incur additional subsidiary indebtedness. The credit agreement governing the Revolving Facility also contains financial covenants which require the maintenance of a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and a maximum leverage ratio. On March 11, 2025, we amended the credit agreement governing the Revolving Facility to increase the maximum leverage ratio and decrease the minimum fixed charge ratio through January 30, 2026, or earlier at our option upon achieving certain financial covenant milestones (“Covenant Relief Period”). During the Covenant Relief Period, we were restricted from repurchasing shares of our common stock and the ability to incur certain additional liens and subsidiary debt was reduced. The credit agreement governing the Revolving Facility also contains customary events of default. As of January 30, 2026, we were in compliance with all such covenants.
As of January 30, 2026, we had no outstanding borrowings, no outstanding letters of credit, and borrowing availability of $2.375 billion under the Revolving Facility that, due to our intention to maintain borrowing availability related to the commercial paper program described below, could contribute liquidity of $2.18 billion. In addition, we had outstanding letters of credit of $58.2 million which were issued pursuant to separate agreements.
Commercial Paper
We may issue the CP Notes from time to time in an aggregate amount not to exceed $2.0 billion outstanding at any time. The CP Notes may have maturities of up to 364 days from the date of issue and rank equal in right of payment with all of our other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness. We intend to maintain available commitments under the Revolving Facility in an amount at least equal to the amount of CP Notes outstanding at any time. As of January 30, 2026, our consolidated balance sheet reflected no outstanding unsecured CP Notes. CP Notes totaling $195.0 million were held by a wholly owned subsidiary and therefore are not reflected in the consolidated balance sheets.
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Senior Notes
Our Senior Notes consist of the following issuances:
(In millions)
Annual
Interest
Aggregate
Issuance
Interest
Maturity
Rate
Principal
Discount
Date
Schedule
May 2028
April 2018
May 1 and November 1
July 2028
June 2023
January 5 and July 5
April 2030
April 2020
April 3 and October 3
November 2032
September 2022
May 1 and November 1
July 2033
June 2023
January 5 and July 5
April 2050
April 2020
April 3 and October 3
November 2052
September 2022
May 1 and November 1
The table above is comprised of what is collectively referred to as the Senior Notes, each of which were issued pursuant to an indenture as supplemented and amended by supplemental indentures relating to each series of Senior Notes (as so supplemented and amended, the “Senior Indenture”).
We may redeem some or all of the Senior Notes at any time at redemption prices set forth in the Senior Indenture. Upon the occurrence of a change of control triggering event, which is defined in the Senior Indenture, each holder of our Senior Notes has the right to require us to repurchase some or all of such holder’s Senior Notes at a purchase price in cash equal to 101% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the repurchase date.
In April 2025, we redeemed the $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding 4.15% senior notes due November 2025. In September 2025, we redeemed the $600.0 million aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 3.875% senior notes due April 2027. In December 2025, we redeemed the $550.0 million aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 4.625% senior notes due November 2027.
The Senior Indenture contains covenants limiting, among other things, our ability (subject to certain exceptions) to consolidate, merge, or sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets; and our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to incur or guarantee indebtedness secured by liens on any shares of voting stock of significant subsidiaries.
The Senior Indenture also provides for events of default which, if any of them occurs, would permit or require the principal of and accrued interest on our Senior Notes to become or to be declared due and payable, as applicable.
Rating Agencies
Our credit ratings, as well as future rating agency actions, could (i) impact our ability to finance our operations on satisfactory terms; (ii) affect our financing costs; and (iii) affect our insurance premiums and collateral requirements necessary for our self-insured programs. There can be no assurance that we will maintain or improve our current credit ratings, particularly, if we are unable to lower our leverage ratios to levels and within time frames deemed acceptable to the rating agencies. The credit ratings for our borrowings are as follows:
Rating Agency
Senior unsecured debt rating
Commercial paper rating
Outlook
Moody’s
Baa3
Stable outlook
Standard & Poor’s
BBB
Stable outlook
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Future Cash Requirements
The following table summarizes significant estimated future cash requirements under our various contractual obligations and other commitments at January 30, 2026, in total and disaggregated into current (<1 year) and long-term (1 or more years) obligations (in thousands):
Payments Due by Period
Contractual obligations
Total
< 1 year
1 - 3 years
3 - 5 years
5+ years
Long-term debt obligations
Interest(a)
Self-insurance liabilities(b)
Operating lease obligations
Subtotal
Commitments Expiring by Period
Commercial commitments(c)
Total
< 1 year
1 - 3 years
3 - 5 years
5+ years
Letters of credit
Purchase obligations(d)
Subtotal
Total contractual obligations and commercial commitments
Represents obligations for interest payments on long-term debt and includes projected interest on variable rate long-term debt using 2025 year-end rates and balances. Variable rate long-term debt includes the Revolving Facility (although such facility had a balance of zero as of January 30, 2026), the CP Notes (which had a balance of zero as of January 30, 2026, and which amount is net of $195.0 million held by a wholly owned subsidiary), and interest rate swaps being accounted for as fair value hedges.
We retain a significant portion of the risk for our workers’ compensation, employee health, general liability, property loss, auto liability, and certain third-party landlord claims exposures. As these obligations do not have scheduled maturities, these amounts represent undiscounted estimates based upon actuarial assumptions. Substantially all amounts are reflected on an undiscounted basis in our consolidated balance sheets.
Commercial commitments include information technology license and support agreements, supplies, fixtures, letters of credit for import merchandise, and other inventory purchase obligations.
Purchase obligations include legally binding agreements for software licenses and support, supplies, fixtures, and merchandise purchases (excluding such purchases subject to letters of credit).
Share Repurchase Program
Our common stock repurchase program had a total remaining authorization of approximately $1.38 billion at January 30, 2026. The authorization allows repurchases from time to time in open market transactions, including pursuant to trading plans adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or in privately negotiated transactions. The repurchase authorization has no expiration date, and future repurchases will depend on a variety of factors, including price, market conditions, compliance with the covenants and restrictions under our debt agreements, cash requirements, excess debt capacity, results of operations, financial condition and other factors. The repurchase program may be modified or terminated from time to time at the discretion of our Board of Directors. Although we have not repurchased shares under this program since 2022, it remains an important part of our broader capital allocation strategy, and we anticipate resuming share repurchases at the appropriate time. For more detail, see Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements.
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Other Considerations
In March 2026, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.59 per share which is payable on or before April 21, 2026 to shareholders of record of our common stock on April 7, 2026. We paid quarterly cash dividends of $0.59 per share in 2025. The Board expects to continue regular quarterly cash dividends, although the declaration and amount of future cash dividends ultimately are subject to the Board’s sole discretion and will depend upon, among other factors, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions, excess debt capacity and other factors that our Board may deem relevant in its sole discretion.
Our inventory balance represented approximately 44% of our total assets exclusive of operating lease assets, goodwill, and other intangible assets as of January 30, 2026. Our ability to effectively manage our inventory balances can have a significant impact on our cash flows from operations during a given fiscal year as discussed further below. Inventory purchases are often somewhat seasonal in nature, such as the purchase of warm-weather or Christmas-related merchandise. Efficient management of our inventory has been and continues to be an area of focus for us.
As described in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements, we are involved in a number of legal actions and claims, some of which could potentially result in material cash payments. Adverse developments in those actions could materially and adversely affect our liquidity.
Cash Flows
Cash flows from operating activities. Cash flows from operating activities were $3.6 billion in 2025, which represents a $638.4 million increase compared to 2024. Net income increased to $1.5 billion in 2025 as compared to $1.1 billion in 2024. Changes in income taxes resulted in a $199.2 million increase in 2025 compared to a $15.4 million decrease in 2024 primarily due to the increase in pre-tax earnings in 2025 and the timing of payments for income taxes. Changes in accrued expenses resulted in a $250.0 million increase in 2025 compared to a $91.8 million increase in 2024, due primarily to an increase in accrued incentive compensation. Changes in accounts payable resulted in a $185.3 million increase in our working capital in 2025 compared to a $302.9 million increase in 2024, due primarily to the timing of inventory receipts and related payments. Changes in merchandise inventories resulted in a $178.5 million increase in our working capital in 2025 compared to the increase of $230.2 million in 2024 as described in greater detail below.
Cash flows from operating activities were $2.996 billion in 2024, which represents a $604.3 million increase compared to 2023. Changes in merchandise inventories resulted in a $230.2 million increase in our working capital in 2024 compared to the decrease of $299.1 million in 2023 as described in greater detail below. Changes in accounts payable resulted in a $302.9 million increase in our working capital in 2024 compared to a $36.9 million increase in 2023, due primarily to the timing of inventory receipts and related payments. Changes in accrued expenses resulted in a $91.8 million increase in 2024 compared to a $39.2 million decrease in 2023. Net income decreased to $1.1 billion in 2024 as compared to $1.7 billion in 2023. Changes in other noncash losses resulted in a $296.2 million increase as compared to a $89.0 million increase in 2023 primarily due to impairment charges in 2024. Changes in income taxes paid in 2024 compared to 2023 are primarily due to the decrease in pre-tax earnings in 2024 and the timing of payments for income taxes.
On an ongoing basis, we closely monitor and manage our inventory balances, and they may fluctuate from period to period based on new store openings, the timing of purchases, and other factors. Merchandise inventories decreased by 6% in 2025, decreased by 4% in 2024 and increased by 3% in 2023. The decrease in the 2025 period primarily reflects a decrease in the consumables, seasonal and home products categories due to inventory reduction efforts and core SKU reductions. Offsetting the inventory decreases was an increase in the apparel category primarily due to an increase in overall store count and improvements to inventory in-stock. Percent and dollar changes in our four inventory categories for the past three years were as follows:
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For the Year Ended
January 30,
January 31,
February 2,
Increase (decrease)
Consumables
Seasonal
Home products
Apparel
On a per store basis, inventories at January 30, 2026, decreased by 7.0% compared to the balances at January 31, 2025.
Cash flows from investing activities . Significant components of property and equipment purchases included the following approximate amounts:
For the Year Ended
January 30,
January 31,
February 2,
(amounts in millions, except store count amounts)
Existing stores improvements, upgrades, remodels, and relocations
Distribution and transportation-related capital expenditures
New stores primarily for leasehold improvements, fixtures and equipment
Information systems upgrades and technology-related projects
Other
Total purchases of property and equipment
Store Counts
New stores
Remodeled or relocated (a)
(a) Remodeled store counts include 2,000 stores through Project Renovate and 2,254 stores through Project Elevate.
Capital expenditures during 2026 are projected to be in the range of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. We anticipate funding 2026 capital requirements with a combination of some or all of the following: existing cash balances, cash flows from operations, availability under our Revolving Facility and/or the issuance of additional CP Notes. We plan to continue to invest in store growth and development with approximately 450 new stores in the United States and approximately 10 new stores in Mexico and approximately 4,270 remodels or relocations, including remodeling approximately 2,000 stores through Project Renovate, remodeling approximately 2,250 through Project Elevate, and relocating approximately 20 stores. Capital expenditures in 2026 are anticipated to support our store growth as well as our remodel and relocation initiatives, including capital outlays for leasehold improvements, fixtures and equipment; the construction of new stores; costs to support and enhance our supply chain initiatives for existing distribution center facilities and replacement of certain transportation related assets; technology initiatives; as well as routine and ongoing capital requirements.
Cash flows from financing activities . During the 2025 period, we had repayments of long-term obligations of $1.7 billion. We paid cash dividends of $519.5 million and did not repurchase shares of our common stock.
During the 2024 period, we had repayments of long-term obligations of $770.2 million. We paid cash dividends of $519.0 million and did not repurchase shares of our common stock.
In 2023, we received proceeds from the issuance of long-term debt of $1.5 billion. Net commercial paper borrowings decreased by $1.5 billion, and we received and repaid $500.0 million under the 364-Day Revolving Facility. We paid cash dividends of $518.0 million and did not repurchase shares of our common stock.
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and related disclosures. In addition to the estimates presented below, there are other items within our financial statements that require estimation but are not deemed critical as defined below. We believe these estimates are reasonable and appropriate. However, if actual experience differs from the assumptions and other considerations used, the resulting changes could have a material effect on the financial statements taken as a whole.
Management believes the following policies and estimates are critical because they involve significant judgments, assumptions, and estimates. Management has discussed the development and selection of the critical accounting estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, and the Audit Committee has reviewed the disclosures presented below relating to those policies and estimates. See Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements for a detailed discussion of our principal accounting policies.
Merchandise Inventories . Merchandise inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market (“LCM”) with cost determined using the retail last in, first out (“LIFO”) method. We use the retail inventory method (“RIM”) to calculate gross profit and the resulting valuation of inventories at cost, which are computed utilizing a calculated cost-to-retail inventory ratio to the retail value of sales at an inventory department level. We apply the RIM to these departments, which are groups of products that are fairly uniform in terms of cost, selling price relationship and turnover. The RIM will result in valuing inventories at LCM if permanent markdowns are recorded timely as a reduction of the retail value of inventories. Inherent in the RIM calculation are certain management judgments and estimates that may impact the ending inventory valuation at cost, as well as the gross profit recognized. These judgments include ensuring departments consist of similar products, recording estimated shrinkage between physical inventories, and timely recording of markdowns needed to sell inventory.
Factors considered in the determination of markdowns include current and anticipated demand based on changes in competitors’ practices, consumer preferences, consumer spending, significant weather events and unseasonable weather patterns. Certain of these factors are outside of our control and may result in greater than estimated markdowns to entice consumer purchases of excess inventory. The amount and timing of markdowns may vary significantly from year to year.
We perform physical inventories in a significant majority of our stores on an annual basis. We calculate our shrink provision based on actual physical inventory results during the fiscal period and an accrual for estimated shrink occurring subsequent to a physical inventory through the end of the fiscal reporting period. This accrual is calculated as a percentage of sales at each retail store, at a department level, based on the store’s most recent historical shrink rate. From time to time as circumstances may warrant, we consider more recent shrink experience in the calculation of our shrink accrual. The impact of doing so has not been material. To the extent that subsequent physical inventories yield different results than the estimated accrual, our effective shrink rate for a given reporting period will include the impact of adjusting to the actual results.
We believe our estimates and assumptions related to the application of the RIM results in a merchandise inventory valuation that reasonably approximates cost on a consistent basis.
We perform an annual LIFO analysis whereby all merchandise units are considered for inclusion in the index formulation. An actual valuation of inventory under the LIFO method is made at the end of each year based on the inventory levels and costs at that time. In contrast, interim LIFO calculations are based on management’s annual estimates of sales, the rate of inflation or deflation, and year-end inventory levels. We also perform analyses for determining obsolete inventory, adjusting inventory on a quarterly basis to an LCM value based on various management assumptions including estimated below cost markdowns not yet recorded, but required to liquidate such inventory in future periods.
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Impairment of Long-lived Assets. Long-lived assets, including right of use assets, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable. The evaluation is performed primarily at the store level, which is the lowest level of identifiable cash flows that are largely independent of cash flows of other assets and liabilities . Impairment of long-lived assets results when the carrying value of the assets exceeds the estimated undiscounted future cash flows generated by the assets. Our estimate of undiscounted future store cash flows is based upon historical operations of the stores and estimates of future profitability which encompasses many factors that are subject to variability and are difficult to predict. If a long-lived asset is found to be impaired, the amount recognized for impairment is equal to the difference between the carrying value and the asset’s estimated fair value. The fair value is estimated based primarily upon projected future cash flows (discounted at our credit adjusted risk-free rate) or other reasonable estimates of fair market value. Changes in these estimates, assumptions or projections could materially affect the determination of fair value or impairment.
Insurance Liabilities . We retain a significant portion of the risk for our workers’ compensation, employee health, general liability, property loss, auto liability and certain third-party landlord claim exposures. These represent significant costs primarily due to our large employee base and number of stores and fleet vehicles. Provisions are made for these liabilities on an undiscounted basis. Certain of these liabilities are based on actual claim data and estimates of incurred but not reported claims developed using actuarial methodologies based on historical claim trends, which have been and are anticipated to continue to be materially accurate. If future claim trends deviate from recent historical patterns, or other unanticipated events affect the number and significance of future claims, we may be required to record additional expenses or expense reductions, which could be material to our future financial results.
Contingent Liabilities – Income Taxes. Income tax reserves are determined using the methodology established by accounting standards relating to uncertainty in income taxes. These standards require companies to assess each income tax position taken using a two-step process. A determination is first made as to whether it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained, based upon the technical merits, upon examination by the taxing authorities. If the tax position is expected to meet the more likely than not criteria, the benefit recorded for the tax position equals the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement of the respective tax position. Uncertain tax positions require determinations and liabilities to be estimated based on provisions of the tax law which may be subject to change or varying interpretation. If our determinations and estimates prove to be inaccurate, the resulting adjustments could be material to our future financial results.
Lease Accounting. Lease liabilities are recorded at a discount based upon our estimated collateralized incremental borrowing rate which involves significant judgments and estimates. Factors incorporated into the calculation of lease discount rates include the valuations and yields of our senior notes, their credit spread over comparable U.S. Treasury rates, and an index of the credit spreads for all North American investment grade companies by rating. To determine an indicative secured rate, we use the estimated credit spread improvement that would result from an upgrade of one ratings classification by tenor. Many of our stores typically carry a primary lease term of up to 15 years with multiple renewal options. We also have stores subject to shorter-term leases and many of these leases also have renewal options. We record single lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term including any option periods that are reasonably certain to be renewed, commencing on the date that we take physical possession of the property from the landlord. Tenant allowances, to the extent received, are recorded as a reduction of the right of use asset. Improvements of leased properties are amortized over the shorter of the life of the applicable lease term or the estimated useful life of the asset.
