The Bluegrass State is where it all began.

Dollar General Has More Than 20,000 Stores in the United States

It's become a running joke in the Tri-State area that anywhere you see construction going on, they're either building a Dollar General or a car wash.  And while we do have a lot of Dollar Generals and car washes around here, we aren't even close to the state with the most Dollar Generals, which is Texas.  According to Statista, there are 20,662 Dollar Generals across 48 United States. 1,949 of those are located in Texas alone!  While Texas may have the most Dollar Generals, did you know Kentucky is home to the first Dollar General?

The First Dollar General

Before Dollar General was known as the building you see everywhere with the big yellow sign, it was a small family-owned wholesale store in Scottsville, Kentucky, called Turner and Son Wholesale.  The first Dollar General started as a concept by J.L. Turner and Cal Turner Sr.  In 1939, the two invested and began the store we would eventually know as Dollar General.

It was in 1955 that the first Dollar General store opened in Springfield, and eventually, other stores owned by J.L. Turner and his son, Cal, were converted into Dollar Generals.

The first Dollar General store opened in Springfield, Ky. on June 1, 1955, and the concept was simple – no item in the store would cost more than one dollar. The idea became a huge success and other stores owned by J.L. Turner and his son Cal Turner Sr. were quickly converted. - Dollar General

According to WBKO, Scottsville, Kentucky, has officially been dubbed the birthplace of Dollar General. They also say there is a Dollar General Store within five miles of 75% of the U.S. population, which is wild.