Dollar Tree is slashing its full-year earnings and sales forecasts as its customers continue to struggle with higher prices and spend less.

The U.S. Department of Labor says Dollar General has agreed to pay a $12 million fine and improve conditions at its thousands of retail stores nationwide to make them safer for workers.

Fourth of July is here! If there are a few things you need from the store, many of them are open today.

The Jacksonville sheriff says the gunman who killed three people at a Dollar General used to work at a dollar store and had stopped in at one before a security guard’s presence apparently led him elsewhere.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan confirmed Saturday that there are a “number of fatalities” in response to the shooting on Kings Road near Canal Street in Northwest Jacksonville, according to Local 10 sister station WJXT.

Macy’s, Target and Dollar General are warning investors their sales will suffer this year as consumers shift spending to essentials.

Macy’s slashed its outlook for the entire year with sales weakening sales in the first quarter during an increasingly challenging economic environment, including stubbornly high inflation.

Asian stock markets are following Wall Street higher ahead of an update on the U.S. jobs market.

Deputies in north central Florida arrested a man on Monday after accusing him of stealing a Toys for Tots donation box from a Dollar General.

A Florida man is facing animal cruelty charges after deputies say he allegedly stabbed and killed a puppy with a machete.

Miami-Dade police are searching for a man who they believe is responsible for two armed robberies that occurred at the same Dollar General store.

There are a few stores open this Thanksgiving, just in case you forgot to pick up some last minute items on Wednesday.

Dollar General is one of the first major companies to announce extra pay for workers who get vaccinated. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)As vaccinations continue across the U.S., some companies are offering financial incentives to encourage their workers to get the shots. Instacart Inc., the grocery delivery service, announced Thursday that it would provide a $25 stipend for workers who get the COVID-19 vaccine. It joins others, including Trader Joe's and Dollar General, which plan to pay workers extra if they get vaccinated. Those challenges provide a strong incentive for companies to get their workers vaccinated, said Laura Boudreau, an economics professor at Columbia Business School who specializes in labor rights.

But Dollar General's humble, $5-and-under cosmetics line has gone viral, thanks to social media beauty bloggers. Dollar General executives say they developed the brand to bolster the company's hold on existing customers and improve its thin profit margins. "We're seeing really good results," Dollar General CFO John Garratt said at a presentation in June. Dollar General added its own beauty brand to an industry that is surging. Dollar General is following a similar strategy to Walgreens, Target, Zara, Forever 21 and even 7-Eleven.

Yet a wave of cities and towns have passed laws curbing the expansion of Dollar General and Dollar Tree, which bought Family Dollar in 2015. Advocates of tighter controls on dollar stores say the big chains intentionally cluster multiple stores in low-income areas. Dollar General and its dollar store rivals mostly sell snacks, drinks, canned foods and vegetables, household supplies and personal care products at rock-bottom prices. Dollar stores can open quickly in new areas because they are small and have lower operating costs than grocery stores. Family-owned grocery stores operate at razor-thin profit margins and dollar stores can pressure them with lower prices, experts say.

Dollar General has become a dominant force in retail by offering everyday items at rock-bottom prices, often in remote areas of the country. Dollar General is looking for other ways to draw customers in an effort to capitalize on rival Dollar Tree's struggles. Dollar Tree gets a higher percentage of its sales from home products and party goods than Dollar General, and Dollar General sees an opportunity to gain market share from its competitor, noted Karen Short, analyst at Barclays. Dollar General is also adding produce sections, healthier snacks and a new private-label cosmetics brand to thousands of stores to woo shoppers. Dollar General recently struck partnerships with FedEx for package drop-offs and pickups and Western Union for wire transfers in stores.