DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — One metro Atlanta county is pumping the brakes on dollar stores – and a temporary moratorium could mean having them more regulated down the road.
The stores serve as a place to save a buck or two, but for people like Immanuel Lewis, the discounted cost isn’t worth it.
“I think it’s stopping other services like a co-op or a farmer’s market or any type of grocer from coming in,” he said.
Lewis is the president of the Gresham Hills Neighborhood Association.
He said DeKalb County has too many dollar stores and that they’re an eyesore in his neighborhood.
“The goal is to work with our legislators in Dekalb County and our legislators at the state level to not do a full-on ban but to use reasonable policy,” he said.
The county agreed. Led by Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson back in December, it passed a 45-day moratorium on new dollar stores in the unincorporated parts of the county.
It’s a chance for commissioners to study the issue before possibly passing long-term regulations next year.
According to Johnson’s website, there are 70 dollar stores in the county. And the city of Stonecrest banned new dollar stores from moving in.
But while there has been pushback, shoppers like Tabatha Rush understand why there are so many.
“I think that Dollar Tree, Dollar General, all of them, have their place,” she said. “There are those who can’t afford to shop at other stores. So, Dollar Tree is just like a savior for them.”
Rush said that when the recession hit, she could come to a Dollar Tree to buy groceries.
Meanwhile, one of the store chains included in the topic, Dollar General, has also responded saying that it is “currently engaged in constructive conversations” with many DeKalb commissioners.
“We believe the addition of each new Dollar General store signifies our growing commitment to invest in DeKalb County through the creation of career opportunities for employees and quality products,” the company said in part.
Dollar General said it employs about 170 people in the county through its stores and distribution centers.
The statement also suggested competitive wages, benefits and promotion within the company and that it is heavily involved in the community through its foundation.
“Since 2009, the [Dollar General Literacy Foundation] has awarded more than $307,000 to DeKalb County schools, non-profits and libraries heaping more than 12,200 local residents improve their lives through literacy and education,” the statement said.
On Tuesday, Dekalb County will host a public meeting to discuss how it will handle dollar stores in the years to come.
“We as community members and residents, definitely have our own opinions, but the fact that Dekalb County would put that moratorium forward so quickly, it’s pretty cool and I would love to hear what their thoughts are,” Lewis said.
Tuesday’s meeting will take place at the Manuel J. Maloof Center in Decatur at 6:30.
Read the full statement from Dollar General below:
Dollar Tree and Family Dollar complement and operate side by side with grocery stores and bring economic development to every community we enter. Dollar stores help alleviate the effects of “food deserts” in urban communities by helping serve the underserved.
Dollar Tree provides a broad range of basic essentials to families at low prices they can afford, which is a key reason we have consistently been one of America’s most loved brands for more than 32 years.
Dollar Tree and Family Dollar are not grocery stores; they are neighborhood discount stores that provide our customers with value products every day in convenient, local, small store locations. Full‐service grocery stores can be found within a few miles of the overwhelming majority of our stores across highly diverse urban, suburban and rural markets. Our stores are on average 9,000sqft, a small fraction of the size of an average grocery store, and we account for less than 2.5% of total food sales in our trade areas.
We understand deeply the concerns of many local officials regarding the changing nature of our shared communities across the country, and – as part of those communities ‐‐ we are always looking for new ways to help our neighborhoods be healthier, stronger and safer.
Our stores strive to be good community partners in every neighborhood we serve. For example, we are a longtime sponsor of Operation Homefront, which provides emergency, financial and other assistance to families of United States service members and wounded warriors in our communities across the country. We have a great partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, raising more than $1.5 million in 2018 through a variety of efforts driven by our associates, customers and vendor partners. We also sponsor ACCESS College Foundation, American Diabetes Association, the American Red Cross, scholarship prog rams, local food banks and other non‐profit organizations.
In 2018, we employed 182,000 people in more than 15,000 communities across North America. In many of these communities, our stores represent much needed full and part time employment opportunities.
Within the past year, more than 35,000 of our valued associates were promoted into new positions within the organization. We reinvested $100 million of the benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 into increased average hourly rates, additional benefits, and more store hours, including associate training.
We have paid billions of dollars in state and local taxes and we continue to invest in all of the communities we serve.
MORE HEADLINES