Dollar General stores may need to rethink beverage displays as seltzer slows

A cooler plan that worked two summers ago may already be out of date in Dollar General stores. As hard seltzer slows and non-carbonated drinks pick up share, store teams may need to move faster on shelf resets, cooler space and backroom pulls to keep beverage sets stocked with what shoppers are actually buying.

The shift is showing up in the numbers. Circana data showed malt-based hard seltzers, including White Claw, down 1.1% in volume in the 52 weeks ended April 26, 2026, while ready-to-drink premixed cocktails rose 46.4% over the same period. Non-carbonated alcoholic brands such as Surfside and BeatBox have been taking share from hard seltzers, especially with younger shoppers, while Celsius and other nonalcoholic brands are leaning harder into still options as they look for growth.

For Dollar General, that kind of move is not just a beverage-industry storyline. It is a merchandising problem that lands on the people stocking shelves, facing coolers and working seasonal resets. In a store where beverage displays often live near the front end, checkout and high-traffic cooler doors, a category shift can change how much room is devoted to sparkling water, seltzer, energy drinks, functional beverages, still water and convenience cocktails. If the set stays frozen while demand changes, stores can end up with full facings that do not turn.

That matters at Dollar General’s scale. The company said it operated 20,893 Dollar General, DG Market, DGX and pOpshelf stores in the United States and Mi Súper Dollar General stores in Mexico as of January 30, 2026. Its annual report says merchandising success depends in part on accurately predicting what customers will demand, and its March 12, 2026 earnings release said same-store sales rose 4.3% in fiscal fourth-quarter 2025, helped by stronger traffic, basket size and consumables performance.

Dollar General has also been pushing harder into private label. The chain rolled out more than 100 new private-label products in 2024 and later expanded Clover Valley with beverage-adjacent items such as coffee enhancer syrups and juice products. That gives store leaders more ways to adjust shelves quickly when national brands lose momentum or when shoppers trade bubbly drinks for still ones.

The broader signal is that beverage buying is becoming more identity-driven and health-led. Keurig Dr Pepper’s 2026 State of Beverages Trend Report found 58% of Gen Alpha and Gen Z respondents choose beverages that reflect their identity, and EY’s March 2026 Consumer Beverage Survey found 52% of U.S. consumers are willing to pay more for drinks tied to health and wellness goals. For Dollar General teams, that can translate into a very practical question: which drinks deserve the cooler door, and which ones are just taking up space?