GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General Corp. announced earlier this month that it has begun selling about 20 CBD topical cosmetic products in approximately 1,100 stores in Tennessee and Kentucky. The company said it also plans to expand the products’ availability to seven more states (Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont) by spring 2020.

Dollar General’s CBD assortment for now is limited to topical cosmetic products including creams, ointments, bath bombs, bath salts and face masks. The retailer added that it does not have current plans to provide ingestible or edible CBD merchandise.

“At Dollar General, the customer is at the center of all we do, and the addition of CBD items is an extension of our ongoing commitment to provide customers with a curated and affordable assortment of the products they seek,” said Jason Reiser, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Dollar General. “As with many of the products we carry in our stores, our decision to offer CBD products is based on customer interests or demands.”

Dollar General, which recently reported third quarter sales and earnings that beat expectations (see story on page 11), plans to accelerate its store opening pace in 2020. The retailer, which is on track to open 975 stores in 2019, intends to open 1,000 new stores and remodel another 1,500 stores in 2020.