Article

Top 100: 90. Dollar General

December 28, 2010

After raising $444 million in an IPO taking the discount retailer public in 2009, private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. promptly paid down $734 million in debt and announced a 12.8 percent bump in revenue to $11.8 billion and profits of $339 million. The Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based retailer, which was relisted on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2009, has seen same-store sales jump more than 9 percent for each of the past two years. Since relisting, Dollar General’s stock has climbed 115.6 percent. Chief executive Rick Dreiling credits new store layouts, thriftiness among higher income consumers and Dollar General’s transition "from cheap to inexpensive" — as evidenced by his successful courting of L'Oreal — for the standout year.

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