Dollar General

[vwnut13]

Went to the new store in Bristol, Connecticut today. It's pretty nice and it's definitely a step up from Family Dollar.

Dollar General and Family Dollar have to be the two stores with the swing.  Both can range from beautiful, to dumps.


All of the Dollar Generals that I have been to in the New England have been a massive step up from those in the south.  Mainly because the northern stores are newer, but the ones I have been to in the south were bad, and it wasn't all because of age.

Cleanliness and well stocked shelves isn't  solely dependant on the age of a store.

Same goes for Family Dollar.  The old stores that we have in New England are meh, but the new stores that they are building are great.

[JimSawhill]

Went to the new store in Bristol, Connecticut today. It's pretty nice and it's definitely a step up from Family Dollar.

Dollar General and Family Dollar have to be the two stores with the swing.  Both can range from beautiful, to dumps.


All of the Dollar Generals that I have been to in the New England have been a massive step up from those in the south.  Mainly because the northern stores are newer, but the ones I have been to in the south were bad, and it wasn't all because of age.

Cleanliness and well stocked shelves isn't  solely dependant on the age of a store.

Same goes for Family Dollar.  The old stores that we have in New England are meh, but the new stores that they are building are great.

Family Dollar is building a new store near me, so I'll see what it looks like when it opens...

[Kmart4life]

Here's an interior shot of one near me that closed and relocated.

[zonemad96]

Went to the new store in Bristol, Connecticut today. It's pretty nice and it's definitely a step up from Family Dollar.

Dollar General and Family Dollar have to be the two stores with the swing.  Both can range from beautiful, to dumps.


All of the Dollar Generals that I have been to in the New England have been a massive step up from those in the south.  Mainly because the northern stores are newer, but the ones I have been to in the south were bad, and it wasn't all because of age.

Cleanliness and well stocked shelves isn't  solely dependant on the age of a store.

Same goes for Family Dollar.  The old stores that we have in New England are meh, but the new stores that they are building are great.

Some stores are over the top and much better looking than any dollar store will ever need to look and then others look beyond rundown to the point where their almost scary to go into. A store just opened up in union bridge md in what used to be a old local iga about 2 weeks ago and its really nice, modern interior and a wide range of products. Then look at the one in hanover pa that opened up in a old rite aid and damn theres a huge difference. It carries about 35% less than the union bridge one and the interior looks like the whole store is going to fall apart if it starts to rain outside. Their is such a extreme difference between the two its not even describable.

[ynkeesfn82]

Dollar General is expanding fast and furious here in Connecticut.

2 more will be opening. Both in small towns. One will be on Route 6 - Main Street in Terryville and the other will be on Route 69 Wolcott Road in Wolcott. From what a friend of mine tells me the one in Wolcott is being built from the ground up on a vacant lot.

[buzz86us]

Does anyone have a Dollar General across the road from a Family Dollar? I liked Dollar General they opened in my hometown in Dolgeville right before my senior year their like the only national chain store in town. They are pretty nice stores I just don't see the reason that one would exist near a Family Dollar. I swear they are almost the same store kinda like Office Depot and Office Max.

[retailisking]

My understanding (not based on direct experience, mind you) is that currently Dollar General has a definite edge on merchandising over Family Dollar. That said, there seems to be an arms race between the "Dollar" stores (Family/General/Tree) to see who can expand the fastest. I can't help but think that there will be a day of reckoning for one or more of them. But Dollar General, at least, still has uncharted territory to conquer.

[TheFugitive]

A family member works at a Dollar General near my home.

It is maybe 9000 square feet.  She says they are doing over
$3 mil. a year.  Impressive turns!

[ynkeesfn82]

The one in Terryville, CT just opened recently. The one in Wolcott is going to be opening soon.

[TheFugitive]

Around here DG seems to just cram itself into whatever space is available.
Locations that I can think of:

3 are in former drug store locations, all of odd geometric proportions.
One is in a former furniture store with a pretty standard layout.
One is in what was the main store building of a former lumber yard.
One is in an old five-and-dime location on the main street of a former steel mill town.
One is in a plaza attached to the far end of a Kmart.

[retailisking]

DG is finally coming to Maine - and Family Dollar is continuing to grow here despite plans to close 370 stores nationwide
http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2014/04/25/eight-more-dollar-stores-way-l-area/1524415

[Stork of The Weak]

Around here DG seems to just cram itself into whatever space is available.
Locations that I can think of:

3 are in former drug store locations, all of odd geometric proportions.
One is in a former furniture store with a pretty standard layout.
One is in what was the main store building of a former lumber yard.
One is in an old five-and-dime location on the main street of a former steel mill town.
One is in a plaza attached to the far end of a Kmart.

The Dollar General in Pottstown PA doesn't seem to be a natural fit either. But for that matter, much of the center it sits in seems out of place with the very nice Redner's supermarket at one end, and a relatively new CVS at the other end. For example, the Woolworth after closing was later a Dollarland and now is a shady thrift store. And a really nasty abandoned gas station is in the parking lot. The Dollar General here coexisted with the larger Dollarland for less than two years, but still it's remarkable that they coexisted at all. This center isn't very big at all. The Dollar General was originally a Rea & Derick drugstore (owned by Acme and later by Peoples) that converted to CVS along with the rest of the Peoples organization in 1991. It was in 2000 that CVS moved to the other end of the center. Acme was once the main anchor of this center, from opening in 1964 to closing in 1994. Today all the Acme stores in PA are south of Pottstown as far as I know, but go east into NJ and Acme can also be found.

[ynkeesfn82]

Dollar General is opening a store in New Britain, Connecticut. But instead of opening in a logical location like taking part of the former Shaw's building on West Main Street, they're building a store from the ground up at 1454 East Street.


The former Shaw's Building on West Main Street and the former Walmart Building on Farmington Avenue remain the 2 largest vacant commercial properties in New Britain.

[Ames Newington]

Dollar General is opening a store in New Britain, Connecticut. But instead of opening in a logical location like taking part of the former Shaw's building on West Main Street, they're building a store from the ground up at 1454 East Street.


The former Shaw's Building on West Main Street and the former Walmart Building on Farmington Avenue remain the 2 largest vacant commercial properties in New Britain.

Wow, that's basically right down the street from me. It's at least a very visible and convenient location, especially being near the CCSU campus. Stop and Shop plaza and the busway are about a block from this site.

It's a strange spot to have a dollar store. Originally, this was supposed to be a CVS, which never happened.

[TheFugitive]

It's a strange spot to have a dollar store. Originally, this was supposed to be a CVS, which never happened.

The DG closest to me is in an old Thrift Drug location, which later became Eckerd
before getting swallowed up by Rite Aid.

[Stork of The Weak]

It's a strange spot to have a dollar store. Originally, this was supposed to be a CVS, which never happened.

The DG closest to me is in an old Thrift Drug location, which later became Eckerd
before getting swallowed up by Rite Aid.

What town is this store in?

[retailisking]

Casco, Maine is getting a DG. It's going to be on Route 121 North just beyond the intersection with Route 11 between the Crossroads Discount and the fire station. Interesting town with a very checkered retail history. In recent years a TD Bank and an AG convenience store have both closed in the town center another mile up the road. In the next town over in Naples, Family Dollar is building a new store from the ground up on Route 302 at the site of the former Sydney's Restaurant. Are we approaching the saturation point for these stores? This reminds me of the home improvement store building frenzy.

[retailisking]

DG is coming to West Paris, Maine. Yet another location on a major state route yet out of the way with respect to other retail. Interesting to note that they are not firmly committed, at least publicly, to the location despite its go-to real estate company already having the property under contract. I assume the same caveat applies to Casco.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/oxford-hills/2014/06/03/dollar-general-plans-store-west-paris/1542836

[BillyGr]

They've opened in a few smaller towns in NY as well where there wasn't a lot of other retail - one in a part of a former GU (which was about the only grocery in town, except maybe a small IGA), one in another older store away from the rest of the (limited to a grocery and Rite Aid) shopping.
Family $ went them one better - they built a store in one town that previously had nothing more than a couple convenience stores and a local Agway.

I guess in a way it makes sense - while they don't have everything a WalMart or Target would, if there aren't any stores in a given area, Dollar General (or Family Dollar) is better than making a trip to the next town every time you need a couple things (even if you are limited on choices, you can probably get something that will "make do").

[retailisking]

A wrinkle has developed in the plan to develop a DG in Casco, Maine. The development is contingent on a zoning change, which is going before a town meeting tonight. A sign supporting the zoning change is currently in place of the "Coming Soon" sign I posted earlier. A couple of hand-painted signs against it have been spotted further up the road. I'll report on the results when I find out the results.

Edit: The zoning change was shot down, but there is some disagreement as to whether it will preclude DG from building on the site. However, the "Coming Soon" sign remains missing.

[shore72]

DG's are popping up on Delmarva like mushrooms-they already had great coverage but are "infilling" and replacing older stores. In the last 6 months or so they have replaced the old downtown location in Federalsburg,MD with a brand new one in a good location near a busy intersection. A new one opened in Blades, DE, just miles from the nearest DG & Family Dollar-now that next nearest DG (in a Sav-A-Lot shopping center, a former Thrift Drug) is being replaced by a "greenfield" store across the street. That one looks to be the largest DG I've ever seen. They put these up quick, too. What was a vacant lot maybe 6-7 weeks ago was open when we drove by today! They are trying to find a location in my old hometown of Preston, MD (population only about 700) but can't find a large enough parcel with the right zoning. They are very aggressive, even considering the purchase of a large historic home in the middle of town and demolishing it.

DG has become my most-shopped store. I'm in there once or twice a week.

[jason83080]

We've gotten quite a few new Dollar General stores around here. One is opening in Sheffield Village, OH, at the intersection of Colorado and Abbe Rds, which will likely replace the existing Sheffield Lake, OH, location at the Shoreway Shopping Center on Lake Road. There are signs in the old store advertising hiring for the "new Sheffield Lake, OH store." Whether the existing SV location (at Abbe and Detroit Rds in a former Revco Drugstore space, 3 miles away from the new store) will close or not is up in the air. I'd think that it would close - two locations so close together seems like oversaturation, but that doesn't stop McDonald's - but, again, I'm not sure.

There's a new one in Amherst, OH, on SR58 that might have replaced an existing location at Cooper Foster Park Rd, but I think that the old one closed a while before the new one opened.

There's another new one in Lorain, OH, also on SR58 (further North, past Walmart and near Colorado Ave), that opened recently. Nearby, a brand new Family Dollar is being built to replace an older store across the street in a soon-to-be-completely-empty old, rundown shopping plaza. Also, a new location opened recently on SR57 in Elyria, OH, replacing the old store location across the street by the former Kroger-turned-Save-A-Lot.

The new stores are much nicer to go through than the older stores.

[ynkeesfn82]

Editor's Note: I thought the deal to sell Family Dollar to Dollar Tree was a done deal.

Just months after Dollar Tree bid on Family Dollar, Dollar General placed a bid on the chain.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/26303280/dollar-general-enters-bidding-for-family-dollar

[Hudsons81]

Well, by the end of the year, we will be left with just one national dollar store chain.

[buzz86us]

this isn't really a beneficial acquisition since this will put a lot of people out of work due to redundancy amongst some of their stores (like it did when Rite-Aid bought Eckerd), while with Dollar Tree it won't be as bad since they tend to be positioned in upmarket areas. Dollar Tree would at-least have funds to renovate some of the stores that really need it.

[TheFugitive]

Could just be mischief making, throwing a last-minute complication out there to
trip up a key rival.

[Hudsons81]

UPDATE: According to an official source, this deal has been rejected.

[Hudsons81]

The Dollar General in the Fort-Grove Shopping Center in Wyandotte, Michigan occupies 1/4 of a former A&P and later IGA franchisee Danny's Foods (the other 3/4 is occupied by Save-A-Lot). It originally opened in 2002.








Entrance:


Manager's office:


Back room:

[ynkeesfn82]

New Britain, Connecticut is reportedly getting a 2nd Dollar General. This one will be built at the corner of Arch Street and Shuttle Meadow Avenue.

http://www.centralctcommunications.com/newbritainherald/article_dc2c9628-c2df-11e4-8872-dfeadfdc4a44.html

Arch Street is a pit and I think I would fear for my life if I ever went on that street.

[ynkeesfn82]

My Mom just went to Dollar General for the first time last week with a client. She bought a bottle of Tide detergent. There's a yellow sticker on the bottle that says "This product intended for sale at Dollar General. If found for sale elsewhere please call 1-800-344-9338."