John Willoughby
reporter2@greenepublishing.com
Over the past several weeks, the impression has been that the new Dollar General store, located at 559 E Base St., in Madison, was working diligently toward an opening date in early August. But on Thursday, June 4, City Manager Jerome Wyche and Greene Publishing, Inc. were pleasantly surprised to learn that the new store could open as soon as Wednesday, June 10.
The Dollar General Plus, which is categorized as a relocation and expansion of an existing store in the area, was announced by Wyche in January when Hixsnedeker Group finalized the sale of property across from BTS Towing and Diesel Repair. Work began immediately as crews began clearing the land of overgrown vegetation, abandoned buildings and trees, making way for the approximately 10,000 square foot structure which will soon open its doors to the public, following a mandatory fire inspection.
While there are many Dollar General stores in Madison County, the only branch in Madison is located just one block down from the newly-erected Dollar General home, neighboring the O'Reilly Auto Parts store. Current store employees will transfer their place of employment from the smaller location to the updated Dollar General Plus store, the only store of its kind in the region. The new store will feature 38 refrigerators and expanded merchandise.
Just northeast of the structure, Hixsnedeker Group cleared a small parcel owned by the city. Wyche hopes to use the land at the intersection of Marion Street and NE Hillcrest Avenue as an opportunity to form a community park with benches and a number of barbecue grills for future gatherings. Before realizing the building will be occupied two months ahead of schedule, Wyche commented in April that he thinks “our timing will be good,” as he believed the park would be open in concert with Dollar General.
The City of Madison isn't a stranger to new economic developments. On Thursday, Jan. 30, Dollar Tree opened their store in the vacated Fred's location at 935 E US Hwy. 90, in Madison. The opening of the new and improved Dollar General joins other department stores in the area such as Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, in Madison and Lee; as well as other Dollar General branches currently operating in Greenville and Pinetta.
Dollar General, headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tenn., conveniently operates over 16,000 in 46 states. Guided by their mission of serving others, shoppers often may find great deals on quality, in demand items. The new Dollar General will be operating with a full staff, but keep your eyes open for career postings at careers.dollargeneral.com.