Sean C. Morgan
A long line stretched from the front of Sweet Home’s new Dollar General across the parking lot as managers and Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors cut a red ribbon symbolizing the grand opening of the new retailer Saturday morning, Dec. 16.
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, District Manager Kevin Wagner and store Manager Jodie Eberhardt greeted customers entering the store, giving away $10 gift cards. Shoppers received a gift bag as they left the store.
Dollar General had a soft opening on Dec. 2, Eberhardt said.
“It’s been going great.”
She said that Dollar General’s prices are attractive to customers.
Some have come in and then gone elsewhere to look at prices then returned a few minutes later, Eberhardt said. Along with low pricing, Dollar General also offers a variety of mainstream brands and products and gives Sweet Home residents another place to look for things, “saving them from driving all the way to Lebanon,” she noted.
“I think it’s pretty neat for the community,” said Don Ross, who was among customers Saturday morning. “It’s got a lot of variety – a lot of basic items. The neat thing is it creates jobs. It’s a little different environment.”
Ross was once the manager of the Sprouse-Reitz variety store in Sweet Home.
Wagner said that Dollar General gets involved in its communities, particularly with literacy. It offers grant programs for local schools and libraries.
“Our founder had a third-grade education,” Wanger said. “That was important to him.”
Dollar General also has been involved in the local toy drives, he said. “We try to help out wherever we can in the community, give back to the community that’s given to us.”
Dollar General, founded in 1939 in Scottsville, Ky., as a dry goods wholesaler J.L. Turner and Son by J.L. Turner and Cal Turner Sr., operates 14,000 stores in 44 states. Products include food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, apparel, housewares, seasonal items, paper products and more.
The Turners Department Store in Springfield converted into the first Dollar General in 1955 with no items more than $1, and Dollar General stores began opening across southern Kentucky. The company began trading publicly in 1968.
As of Nov. 3, 2017, Dollar General operated 14,321 stores across 44 states, including approximately 35 stores in Oregon. Dollar General is currently under construction on approximately 11 new locations in Oregon.