<P> Dollar General Corporation is an American chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee . As of August 2017, Dollar General operated over 13,000 stores in all U.S. states except: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming . </P> <P> Dollar General has its origins in Scottsville, Kentucky from James Luther "J.L." Turner and Cal Turner . James Turner's father died in an accident in 1902 when James was only 11 . James had to quit school and never completed his education so he could work the family farm and help provide for his mother and siblings . After two unsuccessful attempts at retailing, James became a traveling dry goods salesman for a Nashville wholesale grocer . James left the sales job after 10 years and settled his family in Scottsville, Kentucky . During the Great Depression, he began buying and liquidating bankrupt general stores . James' only child Cal Turner accompanied his father to these closeouts at a young age, gaining valuable business knowledge and skills . </P> <P> In October 1939, James and Cal opened J.L. Turner and Son with an initial investment of $5,000 each . The switch to retailing resulted in annual sales above $2 million by the early 1950s . By the mid-1950s Turner had 35 department stores in Kentucky and Tennessee . In 1955 Cal Turner developed his idea of a retail store selling goods for a dollar, based on the Dollar Days promotions held at other department stores, by converting Turner's Department Store in Springfield, Kentucky into the first Dollar General Store . In 1964 J.L. Turner died leaving his son Cal Turner to succeed him . </P> <P> The company Cal Turner co-founded went public as Dollar General Corporation in 1968, posting annual sales of more than $40 million and net income in excess of $1.5 million . In 1977, Cal Turner, Jr., who joined the company in 1965 as the third generation Turner, succeeded his father as president of Dollar General . Cal Jr. led the company until his retirement in 2002 . Under his leadership, the company grew to more than 6,000 stores and $6 billion in sales . In 1997 a distribution center was established in South Boston, Virginia . </P>

When was the first dollar general store opened