Are Dollar General Stores a sign that your small town has died?

[TwiceHorn 31,536]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

You want me to walk ACROSS the street? WITH MY LEGS? What kind of sucker do you think I am?

An no ar conditionin?

[Huckleberry 33,098]

How does one live in the heart of America and not have access to fresh food? We're not talking some urban jungle. So the issue is not DG or Walmart. I guarantee you, somewhere, somehow there is government stupidity playing a big part.

You mean like a podunk town subsidizing a huge business like Dollar General via tax breaks? That kind of government stupidity?

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, Deej said:

Nothing is stopping people in BFE from using some space in their probably not-to-small yard from having a garden, no?

depends on the size of the lab...

[Beau Vine 54,432]

4 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

 

How does one live in the heart of America and not have access to fresh food? We're not talking some urban jungle. 

 

It's explained in the article: "Dollar Generals are frequently found at the heart of “food deserts”, defined by the department of agriculture as a rural community where one-third of residents live more than 10 miles from a grocery store selling fresh produce. "

[Beau Vine 54,432]

1 hour ago, Kilgorehorn said:

Here in East Texas, they are building Dollar Generals outside of towns basically in the middle of nowhere.

That's where I'm seeing more and more of them.  
 

I'll be driving in an area with no commercial businesses, and all of a sudden, there's a DG. 

[El Diablo 4,232]

DG's are the logical outgrowth of the petroleum branded convenience store just without the gas. Watch them partner with Pilot/Flying J. The South will rise again!

Wait, wut?

[Parliament 14,296]

4 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

 

 

You apparently don't live in rural Kansas.  According to the Center of Disease control, 25% of the U.S. population doesn't have access to healthy food, and this population is also the population that DOES have access to Dollar General.  I mean, Kansas is in the heart of U.S. farmland. If these people don't have access to healthy food, that's kind of disturbing. 

If they can't garden, cook and can, you're right.  That's kind of disturbing.

[Lhorn 4,963]

1 hour ago, Deej said:

Nothing is stopping people in BFE from using some space in their probably not-to-small yard from having a garden, no?

You expect someone to take some personal responsibility for their personal welfare and health?  Fuck you for victim shaming.

[Walser 1,110]

43 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

DG's are the logical outgrowth of the petroleum branded convenience store just without the gas. Watch them partner with Pilot/Flying J. The South will rise again!

Wait, wut?

DG's what?

[RDCanecutter 26,473]

If I may jump back to what's going on to make a dying town a dying town, why is there so often a shuttered little "downtown" before DG even decides to set up shop?

I submit to y'all of the jury that a lot of it is cheap easy transportation.

If poor people have the money to jump in a truck and drive to the next county to Walmart for all their clothing, food, and manufactured goods, they surely have enough money to support a local grocery, clothing store, and hardware. Like their even-poorer forebears did when heavy goods came in on the rail cars, and got bounced down a dirt track in a livery wagon.

But who wants to shop at some retro "I can get you Dapper Dan in two weeks" general store, when you could slap your ass in a truck and crank the AC and Florida-Georgia line for a brief escape to the nearest Metro Area?

Unless someone makes it harder. Someone who cares.

Gentlemen, we can improve the small-town shopping experience. Nothing simpler in the world. First, we make sure the rail lines are good. Next, we find all the road bridges, and blow them up. Or at least put toll booths on them. Make it more trouble to haul in small loads of goods, and then you'll see specialists hauling in larger amounts, and selling them locally from "stores". Sure it'll cost more, just like the good ol days. Then to really reinvigorate community spirit we could pit town against town, but lets get the downtowns hopping again first.

[Gil Bang 26,022]

[RDCanecutter 26,473]

5 hours ago, David Dennison said:

On the one hand, yes, my small town has a Dollar General.

On the other hand, there is a bad ass HEB a few miles down the road in another small town. 

I'm kind of surprised the Dollar General is still open.

Please tell me you live in Cut and Shoot.

Lie to me if you need to.

[Aqua Buddha 14,610]

Stop it with "people don't have access to fresh food" nonsense.  They don't want fresh food.  DG opens a store next to them and carries what they want.  PWT likes Mountain Dew and Hot Pockets and that's what DG offers up.  If PWT wanted fresh produce, then that's what they'd get.

A previous post touched on it but DG isn't just rural, it's RURAL in some cases.  No real town to speak of and there's a DG.  It's bizarre but they're damn cheap to build.  Maybe $100K and that's it.

However, there are way too many dollar stores in America.  Believe it or not, if you add up all the chains and their locations plus what they have in the pipeline, there are more of them than Starbucks and there's a Starbucks damn near everywhere.  That's the main reason DG is carpet bombing extremely small towns.  It's the only place they have left to grow.  That bottom end of the market is very oversaturated.

[El Diablo 4,232]

Your moms bottom end was oversaturated last night.

[Helobious 9,464]

I just remember when everyone made a big deal about the new Dollar General opening up in Weslaco, TX a few years ago. They made the grand opening a whole big event, local news stations, city council members, balloons, etc. One of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. IIRC it was robbed at gunpoint less than 4 days later. 

[Shmitty 112]

10 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

 

 

How does one live in the heart of America and not have access to fresh food? We're not talking some urban jungle. So the issue is not DG or Walmart. I guarantee you, somewhere, somehow there is government stupidity playing a big part.

 

Government stupidity like subsidizing the grain crops but not subsidizing the healthy veggie crops to help lower prices of fresh produce?  Yes, that government stupidity.....

7 hours ago, Deej said:

Nothing is stopping people in BFE from using some space in their probably not-to-small yard from having a garden, no?

Good luck growing avocados in Texas.

[Longhorn Al 440]

It's the only store in Lometa.  Otherwise, you drive ~17 miles to San Saba where there are a couple grocery stores, or back into Lampasas for HEB and Walmart.

Lometa has a stoplight, a Dollar General, a gas station, and a drive-thru beer barn.  Oh and a K-12 school with 6-man football.  What more could you ask for?

Someone did buy the empty buildings "downtown". One of them had a caved-in roof.  Talked to the crew working on it a couple months ago.  They said it'll be a bar/dance/live music place.  They won't replace the roof. It'll be an outdoor area.  The rest is being renovated.  Cool idea.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Longhorn Al

[cactusflinthead 27,603]

And some sorry assed highway patrol. 

Lometa has some dollars of mine and I didn't leave them at the DG 

[AeroHorn 754]

11 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

 

 

How does one live in the heart of America and not have access to fresh food? We're not talking some urban jungle. So the issue is not DG or Walmart. I guarantee you, somewhere, somehow there is government stupidity playing a big part.

 

Heart of America grows staples, not vegetables. I am used to having a choice of 100s of salad items at home, all fresh vegetables and fruits (SF bay area), and can eat a different salad every day. It is a shock when visiting midwest. Even when staying at nice hotels, the house salad is usually a block of lettuce with sprinkling of corn and cheese. 

 

[RPM 26,354]

6 hours ago, Helobious said:

I just remember when everyone made a big deal about the new Dollar General opening up in Weslaco, TX a few years ago. They made the grand opening a whole big event, local news stations, city council members, balloons, etc. One of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. IIRC it was robbed at gunpoint less than 4 days later. 

I had a close friend that was murdered in a robbery at a DG in Killeen. It was never solved.

[Longhorn Al 440]

4 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

And some sorry assed highway patrol. 

Lometa has some dollars of mine and I didn't leave them at the DG 

I set my cruise control on whatever the posted limit is in Lometa when passing through.

If you take the 190 bypass instead of going through town, watch out.  There are two spots, one on either side of the road, where the cop likes to camp out.  Do not speed through there.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,977]

6 hours ago, Shmitty said:

 

Good luck growing avocados in Texas.

There are a few varieties that can survive the Texas winters if you take a few precautions below 15° or so. But I think most of them grow small fruits with big pits.

[Shmitty 112]

3 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

There are a few varieties that can survive the Texas winters if you take a few precautions below 15° or so. But I think most of them grow small fruits with big pits.

I'm sure there's an Asian joke or two there.  

[Dr Fear 1,268]

Bad Surly omen?

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

[Moby Ric 2,058]

Your town ain't nothing until you get a Five Below.  It's the high end DG.  All cool, all trendy.

https://www.fivebelow.com

Edited August 14, 2018 by Moby Ric

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

When Little Debbie starts making fruits and vegetables, they will sell to the poors.

['stache 21,866]

I don't know about towns, but the last time I was inside a Dollar General a little piece of me died inside.

[Parliament 14,296]

Lotsa uppity 1%'ers here. When I got married, we registered at DG.

[ButtFumble 5,183]

I tired of these "it killed my business stories" after I used to have to drive through Ropesville, Texas several times a week for work

driving back through one day I was telling a coworker that Ropes needed a Cstore because I needed a drink and she said they have one it is Eagle Mart turn here

we went down that street and sure enough there was a Cstore with one car parked out front in the middle of the street with someone inside getting cigarettes (I think)

we went inside and I assume the owners son (or the on that inherited it) was sitting in a recliner and the store was dirty as fuck and half empty and all the coolers were broken and the "cold drinks" were in busted up coolers with some ice

we got our shit and left and I shopped there a few times on and off after that and then a Cenex opened in Frienship down the road and one day going through Ropes there was a big sign in front of the Cotton Gin in town saying "coming soon Cenex" well they built a big ass store with pizza and sandwiches and an area to get burgers and some other stuff and of course clean bathrooms and tons of working coolers and other shit.....I went to Eagle Mart one last time and the fucked up old sign board out front said "staying open in spite of all reason"....they were gone in less than a month

a friend I new from another town down the way told me that Cenex bumped the tax revenues of Ropes by several hundred thousand dollars and they did a shit tonne of business inside and selling gas (Eagle Mart had no gas just old dusty shit and cigarettes and semi-cold drinks)

the point being there was probably a 10+ year time period when the owners of Eagle Mart could have tried to get a better location on the highway, offer more shit in their store, sell gas, fix a cooler, clean, get a color TV to go with the shitty recliner or anything to try and actually benefit their town instead they just let the store go to shit and eventually someone came in and ran their asses out and did probably 100X the business in the process and made/makes a shit tonne of money doing so and delivers a lot of tax receipts to Ropes

you see that all over the place even Lowes is pretty bad about letting their stores get shitty and run down

[Js1 85,576]

Holy shit was that just one big run on sentence?

[ButtFumble 5,183]

you know what is a sign of something dying....when a burlington coat factory moves into your mall or strip center.....that place is about to fail big time and probably burlington will be the only thing left

[Gil Bang 26,022]

30 minutes ago, ButtFumble said:

I tired of these "it killed my business stories" after I used to have to drive through Ropesville, Texas several times a week for work

driving back through one day I was telling a coworker that Ropes needed a Cstore because I needed a drink and she said they have one it is Eagle Mart turn here

we went down that street and sure enough there was a Cstore with one car parked out front in the middle of the street with someone inside getting cigarettes (I think)

we went inside and I assume the owners son (or the on that inherited it) was sitting in a recliner and the store was dirty as fuck and half empty and all the coolers were broken and the "cold drinks" were in busted up coolers with some ice

we got our shit and left and I shopped there a few times on and off after that and then a Cenex opened in Frienship down the road and one day going through Ropes there was a big sign in front of the Cotton Gin in town saying "coming soon Cenex" well they built a big ass store with pizza and sandwiches and an area to get burgers and some other stuff and of course clean bathrooms and tons of working coolers and other shit.....I went to Eagle Mart one last time and the fucked up old sign board out front said "staying open in spite of all reason"....they were gone in less than a month

a friend I new from another town down the way told me that Cenex bumped the tax revenues of Ropes by several hundred thousand dollars and they did a shit tonne of business inside and selling gas (Eagle Mart had no gas just old dusty shit and cigarettes and semi-cold drinks)

the point being there was probably a 10+ year time period when the owners of Eagle Mart could have tried to get a better location on the highway, offer more shit in their store, sell gas, fix a cooler, clean, get a color TV to go with the shitty recliner or anything to try and actually benefit their town instead they just let the store go to shit and eventually someone came in and ran their asses out and did probably 100X the business in the process and made/makes a shit tonne of money doing so and delivers a lot of tax receipts to Ropes

you see that all over the place even Lowes is pretty bad about letting their stores get shitty and run down

tonne?  you some kind of fucking limey?

[Gil Bang 26,022]

1 hour ago, Moby Ric said:

Your town ain't nothing until you get a Five Below.  It's the high end DG.  All cool, all trendy.

https://www.fivebelow.com

We have one of those, but I've never been in it. 

[Lhorn 4,963]

40 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Holy shit was that just one big run on sentence?

Well technically, with no period at the end it was just one long phrase.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,523]

1 hour ago, Cheeseweasel said:

When Little Debbie starts making fruits and vegetables, they will sell to the poors.

The bread aisle at Kroger is one way to spot income/lifestyle differences in people:  you have the everyday, Butterkrust bread (medium shelf life), the high end specialty bread (low shelf life) and the Little Debbie's section (multi-decade shelf life.)    When you see the family of 4* that are approaching 1000lbs together, it's not a surprise to see them studying the Little Debbie's selection.  Can't you at least try to be healthy?

* By family of 4, I mean mom and 3 kids.  Mom is in a motorized shopping cart.

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

25 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

* By family of 4, I mean mom and 3 kids.  Mom is in a motorized shopping cart.

She brings the kids to load the basket since she can't get out of the cart.

 

[F250 28,820]

1 hour ago, 'stache said:

I don't know about towns, but the last time I was inside a Dollar General a little piece of me died inside.

Once, I stopped at the Dollar General outside of Dripping Springs on my way to Burnet to get something to drink. There is something desperate about shopping at a Dollar General store.

 

[Incredulity 11,683]

1 hour ago, ButtFumble said:

I tired of these "it killed my business stories" after I used to have to drive through Ropesville, Texas several times a week for work

driving back through one day I was telling a coworker that Ropes needed a Cstore because I needed a drink and she said they have one it is Eagle Mart turn here

we went down that street and sure enough there was a Cstore with one car parked out front in the middle of the street with someone inside getting cigarettes (I think)

we went inside and I assume the owners son (or the on that inherited it) was sitting in a recliner and the store was dirty as fuck and half empty and all the coolers were broken and the "cold drinks" were in busted up coolers with some ice

we got our shit and left and I shopped there a few times on and off after that and then a Cenex opened in Frienship down the road and one day going through Ropes there was a big sign in front of the Cotton Gin in town saying "coming soon Cenex" well they built a big ass store with pizza and sandwiches and an area to get burgers and some other stuff and of course clean bathrooms and tons of working coolers and other shit.....I went to Eagle Mart one last time and the fucked up old sign board out front said "staying open in spite of all reason"....they were gone in less than a month

a friend I new from another town down the way told me that Cenex bumped the tax revenues of Ropes by several hundred thousand dollars and they did a shit tonne of business inside and selling gas (Eagle Mart had no gas just old dusty shit and cigarettes and semi-cold drinks)

the point being there was probably a 10+ year time period when the owners of Eagle Mart could have tried to get a better location on the highway, offer more shit in their store, sell gas, fix a cooler, clean, get a color TV to go with the shitty recliner or anything to try and actually benefit their town instead they just let the store go to shit and eventually someone came in and ran their asses out and did probably 100X the business in the process and made/makes a shit tonne of money doing so and delivers a lot of tax receipts to Ropes

you see that all over the place even Lowes is pretty bad about letting their stores get shitty and run down

Part of the problem(and note i said PART) for independents is the cost of compliance with ADA and other regulations triggered by pulling a permit to do an improvement.  Of course there is good in current standards of construction and regulations, but there is a very real consequence that those costs cause to tax base(revenue, profit and property values)

 

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by Incredulity

[Beau Vine 54,432]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Holy shit was that just one big run on sentence?

How are you not familiar with ButtFumble's prose by now?

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

26 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

How are you not familiar with ButtFumble's prose by now?

Is he the Anti- @RDCanecutter?

[RDCanecutter 26,473]

51 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Is he the Anti- @RDCanecutter?

I thought it was Faulknerian, and Faulkner sold a shit-ton more books than I ever did, so I ain't sayin shit.

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

51 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I thought it was Faulknerian, and Faulkner sold a shit-ton more books than I ever did, so I ain't sayin shit.

[RDCanecutter 26,473]

I declare.

[MaybeACoordinator 8,349]

Don't forget about the minimal stress of shopping at a dollar store instead of a high-pressure, dress-to-impress Walmart. 

 

[MaybeACoordinator 8,349]

21 hours ago, Al Czervik said:

Dollar Generals and when the donut shop is owned by SE Asians.  

No racist, just an observation.

 

SE Asians run most of the non-Shipley's donut shops in Houston and some of them wipe the floor with Shipley's. It's a Cambodian thing, starting in Cali and moving east.

['stache 21,866]

2 hours ago, F250 said:

Once, I stopped at the Dollar General outside of Dripping Springs on my way to Burnet to get something to drink. There is something desperate about shopping at a Dollar General store.

 

The last Wal-Mart I went to was in a small town, and was equally depressing.  

[NWBuck 8,586]

Good article, OP- thanks for posting it.

Just drove from Beckley WVa to Charleston, and must have seen 12 DGs... didn't know what the deal was, but this 'splains it.

[MaybeACoordinator 8,349]

If the only national business in your town is a Hunt Brothers franchise on the grease rack at the local independent gas station, your town is almost dead.

If you only have a DG beyond that, you're only a little better off.

If you also have a Family Dollar, there's some hope left. Family Dollar is the Target to DGs Walmart. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,821]

"Food deserts" are really a thing to some people, even in urban environments.  I work in SE Austin right by TPWD, and the nearest real grocery store is probably 4 or 5 miles away.  If you have a car, that's not such a big deal.  But a lot of people out here rely on public transportation, meaning if you want to go to HEB or Fiesta you have to ride a bus and haul all your shit home on it, or beg a ride from someone.  It's no wonder that much of the time those people opt to go to the convenience store a couple of blocks away and overpay for shit food, or eat fast food, which there is no shortage of around here.  

Hopefully things like HEB delivery and similar services will change some of that but shit it's hard to get anything even delivered to this neighborhood.

[Gil Bang 26,022]

The Mexican supermarket in my town will give you a free ride home if you spend 50 bucks. Lots of women take the bus to the market and the shuttle van home.