I bough Dollar General (DG). Dollar General is an established chain of discount stores selling consumer staples for low prices in neighborhood locations. The company sells its own private-branded goods alongside popular products from Clorox, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, General Mills and more. There are more than 18,000 Dollar General stores in 47 U.S. states.

Dollar General stock is up 3% in 2022, even as the S&P 500 has fallen nearly 20%. Throughout this year, the chain has reported increases in foot traffic and in how much customers spend at each transaction.

The company leaders are focused on streamlining their supply chain. Those efficiency efforts can help with the current inflation trend, but will also create long-term advantages.

Dollar General is supporting revenue growth through expansion. The third-quarter 2022 revenue increase of 11.1% came from new store openings plus a 6.8% increase in same-store stores, partially offset by store closures. Third quarter net income grew 8% despite some gross margin pressures related to higher product costs.

Dollar General actively returns value to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. Share repurchases in the third quarter totaled 2.3 million shares, and the company has $2.5 billion remaining on its share repurchase authorization. The dividend yields about 0.9%, which isn't world-beating, but Dollar General's annualized three-year dividend growth rate is more than 13%.

Tough economic times maybe good for Dollar General. If the economy stagnates or worsens in 2023, the trends of increasing traffic and higher average transactions should continue. The company also expects to open 1,050 stores in 2023, including 35 stores in Mexico.