What it's like to shop at Dollar General's DG Market - Business Insider

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Alex Bitter, the reporter who wrote this piece, wears sunglasses and a light jacket while posing in the parking lot of a DG Market in Maryland. — The reporter in front of a DG Market in Maryland.

Dollar General operates about 19,000 stores in the US, 2,700 of which focus on fresh groceries.
DG Markets stock produce, meat, and other foods that aren't typically found in dollar stores.
I visited a DG Market and found the selection limited and the prices higher than grocery stores.

Dollar General wants to be lots of things, like a bank and a clinic with basic health services.

But one area where it's made a lot of progress, executives say, is in fresh food. Dollar General has spent years opening DG Markets, stores it says have enhanced selections of foods like bananas, cheese, and milk. The company says the goal is to provide customers "with closer access to fresh and healthier foods and a convenient location to purchase the items they want and need at everyday low prices." The company has not disclosed how many DG Markets it has opened, but an Insider search found over 100 locations listed on Google.

Dollar General has also added some of those products to its regular dollar stores. Dollar General plans to have fresh produce in about 5,000 of its 19,000 stores by the end of the year.

Besides DG Fresh stores, Dollar General has an initiative of the same name to expand its distribution capacity for fresh food. The chain expects to sell fresh food in 5,000 of its stores by the end of 2023. Analysts at Coresight Research said in January that while selling food is a logistically tough, minimally profitable business compared with other consumer goods, it could "help dollar stores create a steady stream of repeat customers, driving store traffic."

To find out whether I could actually do my grocery shopping at a dollar store, I visited a DG Market.

The DG Market I visited was in a strip mall in Fort Washington, Maryland.

Walking toward the entrance, I noticed these bright green carts. Carts at a normal Dollar General are yellow — perhaps it was a branding choice meant to emphasize the "fresh" aspect of DG Market.

Bright green DG Market carts stand against a brick wall outside of a DG Market store.

On the other side of the entrance were these rolltainers full of dry pet food. Overall this store was tidy, but these reminded me of my reporting on Dollar General stores that were overrun with merchandise like pet food and bottled water.

On the other side of the entrance were these rolltainers full of dry pet food. While this store was tidy overall, it reminded me of my previous reporting on Dollar General stores that are overrun with merchandise.

If you looked closely, you could see evidence of the sign that had been used when this location was a regular Dollar General.

If you looked closely, you could see evidence of the previous "Dollar General" sign that had been used when this location was a regular Dollar General.

I found the section of the store with fresh foods to the right as I walked in.

A green sign that reads "Fresh way to save" hangs above a partially empty produce display at a DG Market store.

There were definitely fresh items you wouldn't normally find in dollar stores, such as bulbs of garlic, avocados, and bananas.

Garlic bulbs, avocados, bananas and other produce sit in brown, plastic crates in a produce display at a DG Market.

But some space reserved for fresh produce was partially empty or contained shelf-stable packaged foods, like chopped garlic in jars.

Limes, bottles of lime juice, and jars of chopped garlic partially fill plastic fruit crates in the produce section of a DG Market in Maryland.

These bottles of lime juice were in a fruit crate — and right next to fresh limes.

Alex Bitter/Insider

Cooler cases had more produce and fresh items.

A sign that reads "Fresh produce" sits above a temperature-controlled case holding carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and other produce.

The selection wasn't as extensive as you'd find in traditional supermarkets, but I saw tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, celery, and ready-to-eat salads.

Three shelves of tomatoes, pre-made salads, and other fresh foods sit in a cooler case at a DG Market. The middle shelf is partially empty.

Dollar General has said it doesn't intend for DG Markets to be the same as grocery stores.

Lettuce, broccoli, and other greens wrapped in plastic sit in a cooler case at a DG Market.

But in some rural areas, its stores are often the only retail options.

Bags of red and brown potatoes sit at one end of a produce display at a DG Market.

Some of the products I saw were priced higher than they were at rival stores. These 8-ounce packs of whole white mushrooms were $2.95 at DG Market — a dollar more than you'd pay at a nearby Aldi.

Packages of whole white mushrooms, selling for $2.95 for eight ounces, sit in a cooler at a DG Market.

This beef chuck roast was $9.99 per pound, which worked out to almost $22 for this piece.

This beef chuck roast was $9.99 a pound at DG Market.

Instacart indicated that beef chuck roast was selling for $6.49 a pound at Food Lion, another grocery chain in the area. All else being equal, I'd buy the Food Lion version and save some money.

A screenshot of Instacart's website shows beef chuck selling for $6.49 a pound at Food Lion.

I was initially interested in these cheddar-and-jalapeno bratwursts, but I changed my mind when I saw how gray they were. (They were still over a week away from their sell-by date.)

I was initially tempted by these jalapeno and cheddar sausages, but decided against them after seeing how brown they looked.

This sliced ham was by all accounts safe to eat, but it didn't have the appearance of fresh meat, though the label said "fresh."

Sliced lunch meat sits in a plastic bag in a cooler case at a DG Market location.

Cases where milk and other dairy products are normally stocked were empty. While I did find some Vitamin D milk down the aisle, I would've been out of luck if I'd needed 2% or skim.

Cooler cases where milk is normally stocked appear empty at at DG Market store.

I spotted some unusual products, such as these containers of Kool-Aid yogurt.

Kool Aid-flavored yogurt sits in a refrigerated case at a DG Market.

Frozen foods, like TV dinners and pizzas, were well stocked.

TV dinners, pizzas, and other frozen foods sit in a freezer case at a DG Market.

The store had a wide selection of shelf-stable packaged foods, such as soda and pasta.

Two-liter bottles of soda, including Coca-Cola and Fanta, sit in shelves at a DG Market store.

Once again, the store's prices weren't always as low as rivals' prices. A can of Dollar General's store-brand black beans was $1.35.

Alex Bitter/Insider

At a nearby Aldi, a comparable product was $0.73.

Cans of black beans sit in carboard cartons on the shelf at an Aldi grocery store in Maryland.

As I looked around the store, I got more confused about which demographic Dollar General is trying to appeal to with DG Market

Bags of hamburger buns, hot dog buns, Tastykake cinnamon rolls, and other bread products sit on shelves at a DG Market store in Maryland.

I could scrape together a week's worth of groceries here, but I'd need to rely heavily on canned and other shelf-stable foods.

Alex Bitter/Insider

There were more fresh food options than at other dollar stores I'd been to, but fewer than at a traditional supermarket. Unless this was the only store that sold food nearby, it would be hard for me to justify shopping here regularly.

Several bunches of bananas, mostly green and not yet ripe, sit piled on top of each other in the produce section of a DG Market in Maryland.

After picking out a few items, including the Kool-Aid yogurt, I headed to the checkout.

Self-service checkouts, with a black-and-yellow "Self-checkout" sign hanging above them, at a DG Market store.

As I touched the screen on a self-checkout kiosk, a message popped up saying I couldn't use cash to pay for my groceries. I paid using a card.

A screen at one of the DG Market self-checkout kiosks reads: "At this time this self-checkout does not accept cash payment and no cash back is given. Do you wish to continue using another form of payment?"

There were no employees at the regular checkout lanes. If I'd had only cash, I would have had to ask an employee working elsewhere in the store to ring me up.

Two regular checkout lanes at a DG Market, both closed.

Checking out was easy, and I was out of the store in a few minutes.

The reporter, wearing a light brown coat and a face mask, scans his purchases at the DG Market's self-checkout kiosk.

Overall, there was more fresh food at the DG Market than at any other dollar store I'd been to before.

A black, white, and yellow sign reads "Thank you for shopping with us" just past the checkouts at a DG Market store.

But if I lived in the area, I'd do my grocery shopping at a proper grocery store instead. There's a Safeway and a Weis Markets location within a 10-minute drive of the DG Market I visited.

Search results on Google Maps show Safeway and Weis Markets grocery stores, both within a 10-minute drive of the DG Market location that the reporter visited.

The high prices of some items also surprised me. For anyone who's on a budget or who likes to hit up weekly specials, there are definitely better places to shop for food.

The author stands outside of the DG Market store in Maryland, with the shop's sign visible in the background.

Dollar General did not respond to a request for comment from Insider on this reporter's experience.

Do you work or shop at Dollar General or DG Market? Reach out to Alex Bitter at abitter@insider.com or via the encrypted messaging app Signal at (808) 854-4501.

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What it's like to shop at Dollar General's DG Market - Business Insider

The DG Market I visited was in a strip mall in Fort Washington, Maryland.

Walking toward the entrance, I noticed these bright green carts. Carts at a normal Dollar General are yellow — perhaps it was a branding choice meant to emphasize the "fresh" aspect of DG Market.

On the other side of the entrance were these rolltainers full of dry pet food. Overall this store was tidy, but these reminded me of my reporting on Dollar General stores that were overrun with merchandise like pet food and bottled water.

If you looked closely, you could see evidence of the sign that had been used when this location was a regular Dollar General.

I found the section of the store with fresh foods to the right as I walked in.

There were definitely fresh items you wouldn't normally find in dollar stores, such as bulbs of garlic, avocados, and bananas.

But some space reserved for fresh produce was partially empty or contained shelf-stable packaged foods, like chopped garlic in jars.

These bottles of lime juice were in a fruit crate — and right next to fresh limes.

Cooler cases had more produce and fresh items.

The selection wasn't as extensive as you'd find in traditional supermarkets, but I saw tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, celery, and ready-to-eat salads.

Dollar General has said it doesn't intend for DG Markets to be the same as grocery stores.

But in some rural areas, its stores are often the only retail options.

Some of the products I saw were priced higher than they were at rival stores. These 8-ounce packs of whole white mushrooms were $2.95 at DG Market — a dollar more than you'd pay at a nearby Aldi.

This beef chuck roast was $9.99 per pound, which worked out to almost $22 for this piece.

Instacart indicated that beef chuck roast was selling for $6.49 a pound at Food Lion, another grocery chain in the area. All else being equal, I'd buy the Food Lion version and save some money.

I was initially interested in these cheddar-and-jalapeno bratwursts, but I changed my mind when I saw how gray they were. (They were still over a week away from their sell-by date.)

This sliced ham was by all accounts safe to eat, but it didn't have the appearance of fresh meat, though the label said "fresh."

Cases where milk and other dairy products are normally stocked were empty. While I did find some Vitamin D milk down the aisle, I would've been out of luck if I'd needed 2% or skim.

I spotted some unusual products, such as these containers of Kool-Aid yogurt.

Frozen foods, like TV dinners and pizzas, were well stocked.

The store had a wide selection of shelf-stable packaged foods, such as soda and pasta.

Once again, the store's prices weren't always as low as rivals' prices. A can of Dollar General's store-brand black beans was $1.35.

At a nearby Aldi, a comparable product was $0.73.

As I looked around the store, I got more confused about which demographic Dollar General is trying to appeal to with DG Market

I could scrape together a week's worth of groceries here, but I'd need to rely heavily on canned and other shelf-stable foods.

There were more fresh food options than at other dollar stores I'd been to, but fewer than at a traditional supermarket. Unless this was the only store that sold food nearby, it would be hard for me to justify shopping here regularly.

After picking out a few items, including the Kool-Aid yogurt, I headed to the checkout.

As I touched the screen on a self-checkout kiosk, a message popped up saying I couldn't use cash to pay for my groceries. I paid using a card.

There were no employees at the regular checkout lanes. If I'd had only cash, I would have had to ask an employee working elsewhere in the store to ring me up.

Checking out was easy, and I was out of the store in a few minutes.

Overall, there was more fresh food at the DG Market than at any other dollar store I'd been to before.

But if I lived in the area, I'd do my grocery shopping at a proper grocery store instead. There's a Safeway and a Weis Markets location within a 10-minute drive of the DG Market I visited.

The high prices of some items also surprised me. For anyone who's on a budget or who likes to hit up weekly specials, there are definitely better places to shop for food.

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