GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General Corp. entered Mexico last month with the opening of a Mi Súper Dollar General outside Monterrey.

“We are excited about our international expansion,” chief executive officer Jeff Owen said during a conference call discussing fourth quarter earnings.

“We have been very encouraged by the customer response and community reception we have seen so far” for the store in Escobedo, Nuevo León, he said.

“The opening of the first Mi Súper Dollar General store in Mexico highlights our teams’ strong dedication to serving more communities with access to affordable everyday essentials,” Owen said. “I am proud of our team in Mexico and look forward to Mi Súper Dollar General being a force for opportunity as we continue to grow our presence in Mexico.”

The store format was developed to help consumers find attractive prices and convenient shopping within their neighborhood. The brand, which resonated well with consumer focus groups, connotes the idea of a general store focused on serving customers with the products they want and need most. Each store will offer affordable, everyday-low prices in convenient locations and include financial services, a bakery and tortilleria. Products are sourced primarily from Mexico and include fresh produce, health and beauty aids, home cleaning supplies, pet care items, housewares, stationary, and other household essentials.

“We are extremely excited to open our Mi Súper Dollar General doors to provide affordable household essentials to Escobedo residents,” said Gary Morales, the format’s director of operations. “In the future, each store will be tailored to fit the wants and needs of nearby customers so they can provide for their families through a convenient shopping experience.”

. The Mi Súper Dollar General rollout is expected to boost Mexican economic development with the generation of jobs and career growth opportunities in stores, at a store support center in San Pedro Garza García, and through the cultivation of local suppliers.

The retailer’s goal is to have around 20 stores serving underserved communities in northern Mexico by the end of the year “as we look to leverage our brand awareness while extending our value and convenience proposition to a customer base that is similar to our core customer in the United States,” Owen commented.

Overall, the company’s real estate pipeline “remains robust, and with more U.S. brick-and-mortar stores than any retailer, we are excited about our ability to capture significant growth opportunities in the years ahead,” he added.

Dollar General’s high-return, low-risk real estate model has served it well for many years and continues to be a core strength of the business. Last year, the company completed 2,961 real estate projects, including 1,039 new stores, 1,795 remodels and 127 relocations. The aim for this year is 3,170 real estate projects in the United States across the Dollar General and pOpshelf banners, including 1,050 new stores, 2,000 remodels and 120 store relocations. Notably, this would be the most real estate projects the retailer has executed in one year.

“Our ability to innovate on the store formats continues to be an important strength of the business, and we expect to leverage multiple formats to drive strong returns in the year ahead,” Owen remarked. About four-fifths of new stores and almost all relocations will be with larger store formats, “which continue to drive increased sales productivity per square foot as compared to our traditional store.”

And around four in five remodels will allow for a significant increase in cooler count as well as the ability to add fresh produce in many stores.

President and chief financial officer John Garratt commented, “Our fiscal 2023 full-year outlook reflects our confidence in the business, even in a potentially challenging economic and operating environment.”