Keeping lean store staffs is a part of Dollar General's business model, and one of the reasons the chain has been able to expand its footprint at such a rapid rate. "We were already understaffed the entire time I had worked there, but it got to a point where we were not able to keep up." "People started to try to find better jobs, or they just had enough of being worked to death and being disrespected by both corporate and customers," he told Insider. Pay for workers stayed around $13 an hour on average, which Erikson says was not a living wage in that part of Maine. But very quickly, he said, the Dollar General began hemorrhaging workers. The company did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.Įrikson had started at the Maine Dollar General in January 2020, after getting laid off from a local Super Shoes store.
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"Our Eliot store remains open to provide the York County community with convenient, affordable access to everyday essentials." Yet the median annual income for store employees is $14,571, and stores are staffed with just one manager, one or more assistant store managers, and around three sales associates, according to 2019 figures from the company."Out of respect for these individuals, as well as the value we place on open and direct communication with our employees, we do not plan to comment on their employment status further," Dollar General told local news station WMTW in a statement. Right out of the gate, new stores can bring in around $1.8 million a year, according to Joe Feldman, a senior research analyst with the Telsey Advisory Group. Each store costs about $250,000 to open, compared to several million dollars for the average grocery store or big box retailer. “Just this morning it was ‘hire, hire’ and then an hour ago we have to be on a call for labor because ‘you’re over payroll,’” the manager told NBC News.ĭollar General did not respond to these specific allegations, but it said in a statement that “these are unprecedented times” and it is “committed to providing our employees and customers with a safe, healthful environment in which to work and shop.” Cost cuttingĭollar General stores are typically around 7,500 square feet, with no more than 10,000 items from household name brands. Neither of the stores have had protective sneeze guards installed.
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The limited number of employees per store, coupled with the company’s promotional activity to attract more shoppers, makes it difficult to follow the recommended 6 feet of social distancing, according to an employee at a store in Michigan and a store manager in Oklahoma who both asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly. It also said it will pay employees an additional dollar per hour worked over a six-week period beginning in mid-March, according to the announcement.
DOLLAR GENERAL INSTALL
Dollar General recently announced it will install about 40,000 sneeze guards and provide employees with gloves across its stores, the company told NBC News. Workers are now worried about a new threat in their stores - the coronavirus. Dollar General said it employs "a number of measures designed to create and maintain a safe work environment for our employees and a safe shopping environment for our customers." The measures take federal and state law into account and "reflect the highest levels of retail industry standards and law enforcement agency recommendations," the company said.