Dollar General, the highly visible retailer in the US with more locations than Walmart's and Wendy's combined, aims to sell common necessities for less. However, Bloomberg's Brendan Case and Josh Eidelson reveal the downside of their profit-driven approach. Dollar General has faced fines for selling soiled merchandise, expired food, and maintaining dirty and unsafe stores. This story attracted attention after the US Workplace Safety Agency, OSHA, repeatedly cited Dollar General and placed it on the severe violator list, marking the first time a national retail company received such a designation.
The Dollar General retail chain has 19,000-plus locations, more than Walmart and Wendy’s combined. Its business model is to open in towns too small to support bigger retailers, sell necessities at low prices and keep staff to a minimum, sometimes as few as one or two people per shift. This bare bones approach has led to profits but also numerous OSHA citations and millions of dollars in proposed fines against the company since 2017.
Bloomberg reporters Josh Eidelson and Brendan Case join this episode to talk about their reporting on Dollar General, what current and former employees say about what it’s like to work there–and how the company has responded.
Read more: Why Dollar General Might Just Be the Worst Retail Job in America
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