My Father’s Business

Cal Turner Jr., longtime chief executive of Dollar General, tells the story of the company founded by his father and grandfather, in a first-person account with Rob Simbeck. His grandfather, who went from dirt farming to starting a business in the Depression, made a third-grade education an asset; his father hatched the dollar price point strategy. At heart it is a father and son story, from a childhood in Scottsville, Kentucky, where family and business were one, to the company reaching the Fortune 300 at the risk of that relationship. Turner traces three generations with very different leadership styles, including his own, built on values, people and pragmatism, and credits his small-town values for guiding its growth.

Doug McMillon wrote on Facebook that Cal Turner's story was among the especially inspiring ones he read that year, praising passionate leaders and merchants.