US discount chain Dollar General is continuing its breathtaking pace of store openings after announcing a 2 per cent improvement in fourth quarter sales, to $6.1 billion.

Dollar Tree’s full-year sales growth was 2.7 per cent, marking the 28th consecutive year of same-store sales growth, according to CEO Todd Vasos.

The company opened a record 1315 new stores last year and plans a further 900 this year, despite finishing the last quarter down by 35. As well as new stores, the retailer plans to relocate 100 outlets and remodel 1000.

While retailers all over the US are closing stores, reporting declining sales or entering administration, Dollar General’s figures show that “not all retail is hurting” according to Moodys VP Mickey Chadha.

“The convenience and value proposition offered by Dollar General coupled with its relative insulation from the increased competition from e-commerce will result in continued strength for Dollar General and the dollar store sub-sector of retail as a whole,” Chadha wrote in an email to Retail Dive.

Retail analyst Nick Egelanian, president of retail development consultants SiteWorks International, says both Dollar General and rival Dollar Tree will continue to succeed because they meet the needs of consumers living paycheck to paycheck and relying on low food prices.

“The ‘dollar store’ industry has really become the ‘mini-grocery store’ industry today. The stores are now 90 per cent (plus or minus) consumables and are geared to working class, budget-minded consumers.”