Dollar General announced that Susan Lanigan, EVP and general counsel, has decided to retire from Dollar General later this year after nearly 11 years with the company.

Dollar Tree intends to expand its 603,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Marietta, Oklahoma by an additional 400,000 sq. ft.

Same store sales increased 5.1% at Dollar General during the second quarter and the company remains on track to open more than 600 new stores this year.

Plans for a new distribution center near Philadelphia will allow Dollar General to more effectively replenish its rapidly expanding store base.

Family Dollar is getting the Redbox treatment.

Family Dollar Stores has named Mary Winston to the position of EVP and CFO.

Walk into a Target store anywhere in the U.S. and it’s a safe bet there will be at least a few customer rummaging through the bins of single price point merchandise in the Dollar Spot located just inside store entrances. The ever changing assortment’s treasure hunt appeal and single price point value proposition are simply too much for many customers to bypass. It is enough to make wanna-be merchants wonder if further expansion of the concept makes sense for Target, especially considering the raging success companies such as Dollar General and Family Dollar are having.

Momentum remains on the side of Family Dollar, as the company late Thursday reported another quarter of record sales and profits and the opening of 101 units, which included its first stores in California.

Walmart faces increased competition from dollar stores, as their value proposition still resonates with cash-strapped consumers.

Family Dollar disappointed its investors this week with a third-quarter earning report in which gross margin pressures caused the company to report earnings per share of 91 cents that were four cents shy of analysts’ consensus estimates. The operator of 6,900 stores also said its 4.7% same-store sales increase was short of guidance of 5% to 7% and then used the occasion to lower fourth-quarter sales and earnings forecasts.

Dollar General maintained its momentum in 2010 by achieving record sales, profits and expansion and it’s looking like 2011 will bring more of the same.

Family Dollar today showed why dollar stores are such a hot commodity right now by reporting a comparable-store sales increase of 5.1% for the second quarter ended Feb. 26.