For a small business, getting a product into a national retailer can look like the breakthrough it has been waiting for.<\/p>\n
The agreement can bring larger orders, national exposure, and access to customers far beyond the company\u2019s existing market.<\/p>\n
But before those benefits arrive, the supplier may need to finance a major increase in production, packaging, and inventory while accepting the pricing and delivery requirements of a much larger business.<\/p>\n
This tradeoff is at the center of Dollar General\u2019s latest search for small-business vendors.<\/p>\n
Dollar General has opened applications for its annual Call for Small Businesses<\/a>, inviting U.S.-based companies that have not sold products to the retailer within the past 18 months to apply.<\/p>\n Applications are open through August 17. Selected companies will meet virtually with members of Dollar General\u2019s Small Business Development and merchandising teams this fall.<\/p>\n More Retail:<\/strong><\/p>\n The retailer said its development program offers eligible vendors access to training, product discovery resources, counseling, funding services, and financial support programs.<\/p>\n Dollar General did not disclose how many businesses it expects to select. The company has also not publicly reported how many applicants from last year\u2019s program eventually secured vendor agreements.<\/p>\n For businesses that advance, the potential reach is considerable.<\/p>\n Dollar General operates more than 21,000 stores and plans to open approximately 450 additional U.S. locations during fiscal 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n The retailer reported first-quarter net sales of $10.8 billion, up 3.4% from a year earlier, while operating profit increased 10.8%.<\/p>\n Its expansion comes as the broader dollar-store industry is being reshaped.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rival Dollar Tree sold Family Dollar<\/a> in 2025 after nearly a decade of struggling to turn the chain around, while Dollar General continues to add and remodel stores under its core brand.<\/p>\n This growing footprint can create a significant opportunity for emerging suppliers.\u00a0<\/p>\n It can also increase the amount of inventory, financing, and production capacity required to keep products on shelves across the network.<\/p>\n MoMo Productions / Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The potential value of landing on Dollar General\u2019s shelves extends beyond the size of its store network.<\/p>\n Dollar General outpaced rival Dollar Tree in same-store visit growth during the first four months of 2026, according to Placer.ai.<\/a><\/p>\n Visits to Dollar General stores increased 1.9% year over year in March and 2.3% in April, while Dollar Tree recorded declines during both months.<\/p>\n The chain is also becoming a more frequent stop for shoppers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nearly one-quarter of Dollar General customers visited at least four times in an average month during the first quarter of 2026, up from 21.2% four years earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n Placer.ai<\/a> found that 28% of visits came from within one mile of a store, reinforcing Dollar General\u2019s position as a neighborhood destination for routine purchases.<\/p>\n For a small brand, that combination of scale and repeat traffic can provide exposure that would be difficult to build independently.<\/p>\n But the invitation comes as many small businesses remain under pressure from costs and limited margins.<\/p>\n Research from the Bank of America Institute found that small-business profitability growth turned positive in June for the first time this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, revenues were still not increasing fast enough to fully offset costs, leaving even businesses with growing sales struggling to achieve meaningful margin improvement.<\/p>\n The pressure has been greatest among the smallest firms.\u00a0<\/p>\n Businesses with less than $500,000 in annual revenue experienced the largest drag on profitability during 2026, according to Bank of America small-business account data.<\/p>\n Many small companies were also raising prices to offset higher operating costs.<\/p>\n At the same time, only 16% of small-business owners planned to make capital investments over the following six months, the lowest share since March 2009, according to NFIB data cited by Bank of America.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those investments can include the equipment, production capacity, and other resources a company may need to fulfill much larger retail orders.<\/p>\n Caroline Weaver, founder of The Locavore Guide, said that the financial gap can determine whether interest from a major retailer turns into a sustainable business relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cBig retailers like Dollar General or Target love to signal that they’re open to working with small businesses, but in reality, these partnerships often hit a dead end because these retailers require unrealistic margins from their vendors, or the upfront cost for a small business to produce at scale is prohibitive,\u201d Weaver told TheStreet.<\/p>\n The scale can still produce considerable benefits for suppliers equipped to meet it.\u00a0<\/p>\n National distribution can give an emerging brand visibility and sales volume that would be difficult to generate independently.<\/p>\n Dollar General has pointed to suppliers that built lasting relationships with the chain.\u00a0<\/p>\n Milo\u2019s Tea, whose products are carried across much of Dollar General\u2019s network, was named the company\u2019s Small Business Supplier of the Year in 2023 and again in 2025.<\/p>\n But experiences elsewhere in retail show why gaining access to a major chain does not eliminate financial risk.<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> that delayed payments at Saks left some smaller merchandise suppliers waiting months to be paid after producing and shipping their goods.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some vendors eventually withheld additional deliveries while continuing to carry the costs of inventory that had already reached the retailer.<\/p>\n For small businesses considering Dollar General\u2019s invitation, the opportunity is therefore about more than winning shelf space.\u00a0<\/p>\n Its value will depend on the margins vendors can preserve, the cost of increasing production, and whether they have enough working capital<\/a> to sustain a national retail relationship.<\/p>\n\n
Dollar General has seen foot traffic grow<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Dollar General\u2019s reach creates both opportunity and pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Small businesses face a difficult leap in scale<\/strong><\/h2>\n