By Kate Gibson & Michelle Donley, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Dollar General Corp., a discount chain controlled by a unit of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., and teen-apparel retailer rue21 inc. have priced their initial public offerings, testing investors' appetite for shares of value-focused retail companies. Dollar General said its offering of 34.1 million shares priced at $21 each, at the low end of its anticipated range of $21 to $23. The company is selling 22.7 million shares, while existing shareholders will sell 11.4 million shares. The stock, which began trading Friday under the symbol "DG" on the New York Stock Exchange, climbed about 8% to $22.65 in the early going. The retailer said it will receive net proceeds of about $445.2 million after commissions and expenses, money it will use to redeem part of its outstanding notes. The Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based company is the largest discount retailer in the U.S. as measured by number of stores -- more than 8,700 in 35 states, according to a company press release. It sells products usually priced at $10 or less, and it had $10.5 billion in total sales for the 12 months ended Jan. 30. Private-equity firm KKR bought Dollar General in 2007 for $7.2 billion. Also, retailer rue21 priced its offering of about 6.77 million shares at $19 each, above the expected range of $16 to $18. The company is offering 1.65 million shares, while existing shareholders will sell 5.12 million shares. The stock, listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, had not begun trading at last check Friday. Rue21 said it expects to receive net proceeds of about $29.2 million, which it will use to repay part of its borrowings as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes. The company, with 502 stores in 43 states, focuses on trendy apparel for teens at moderate prices. After the IPO, private-equity firm Apax Partners will own nearly 58% of rue21's common stock. Citigroup Inc. (C 4.08, +0.02, +0.49%) , Goldman Sachs & Co. (GS 177.03, -1.45, -0.81%) , KKR, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC 16.08, +0.02, +0.14%) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM 42.94, -0.36, -0.83%) are joint book-running managers for the Dollar General IPO. For rue21, the lead managers are Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Goldman and J.P. Morgan.

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