Dollar General will provide $1.875 million in food and personal items to Rochester-based Foodlink and change its pricing practices at New York stores under a settlement announced Thursday by Attorney General Letitia James.
The attorney general's office said its investigation found that customers were regularly charged more at checkout than the lowest advertised or posted price. Foodlink plans to distribute the goods through its network of food pantries and meal programs.
The office reviewed more than 900 county and local weights-and-measures inspection reports from Dollar General stores statewide. It said 43% of those reports from 2021 through 2023 documented price-accuracy failures above 2%. In a separate secret-shopper review at 11 Western New York stores, investigators said they were overcharged for about 14% of the items they bought.
The state also found shelf tags, print and digital ads and coupons that did not match checkout prices. Some receipts displayed the full price but not the amount after discounts, while others showed neither clearly, the office said.
What the settlement requires
Dollar General must honor the lowest price shown on a product tag, shelf label, advertisement or register when those prices differ. It will train New York employees, assign staff to keep shelf tags current, post signs explaining the lowest-price policy and redesign receipts so item-level discounts and savings appear together.
An independent auditor will make unannounced price checks at every Dollar General store in the state twice each fiscal year. The company also must arrange 15 random audits annually comparing weekly advertised, shelf and register prices, send district managers to check prices every six weeks and correct discrepancies identified in inspections or audits within 24 hours.
Under New York law, stores must charge no more than the lowest advertised, posted or marked price. State and local rules also require at least 98% accuracy in price inspections.
Foodlink President and CEO Julia Tedesco said the nonprofit would work with its pantry and meal partners to distribute the donation quickly. The settlement's $1.875 million civil penalty is paid in goods, not as a cash payment to customers.
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