For many of those who hail from urban areas, there are only a few stereotypical ideas of what a small, rural town looks like. These include, but are not limited to, single stoplights, large old houses and a one room school house. As of the past two years, however, a new soon to be iconic image has joined the mix: the black and yellow illuminated sign one will see as they approach the edge of town, Dollar General.
I live in a suburb (really a small town) north of Pittsburgh. Two years ago, a Dollar General was built on the southern end of town. This was initially a pretty cool thing; one does not need to travel 30 minutes, round trip, to get contact solution late at night if they only have to drive a mile.
This Dollar General is in the same family as the Dollar General a town over, and the Dollar Tree in the town in the other direction.
Just recently, another Dollar General was added just eight miles further south of the one in my town. And, as we speak, a Dollar General is under construction eight miles north of where I live. This means, in about a 30-mile radius, there is a Dollar Tree, and will shortly be six Dollar Generals.
The revolution does not stop there. In New York State, about an hour and 40 minutes southeast of Buffalo, I recently drove a 30-mile stretch where I saw two Dollar Generals under construction at the same time.
These stores receive mixed reviews from those who are watching the epidemic being built. While Dollar Generals could nearly be classified as miniature Wal-Marts and carry nice household products from kitchenware to hair products and dog food, some are not found in the food selection.
The chain carries a small variety of spices, baking ingredients and bread great for snagging the cup of flour you forgot to buy to make your father's birthday cake.
This part is all well and good--the main battle lies with the rest of the cheap, fatty goods the store sells. From frozen television dinners to sugary cereals and a monstrous candy selection, some believe the motive of the company is to place their stores, stuffed to the brim with cheap junk food, in rural places where the average income is low and those who regularly consume fattening foods will keep the chain in business.
I do not necessarily find this to be the biggest problem. Businesses that sell food will often place themselves in the epicenter of the places they know their food will sell. Despite the fact that I find it a little devious to allow Dollar Generals to operate under this order in a nation already struggling with obesity, the simple quantity of the stores is slightly more disgusting.
Store chains with a larger inventory, such as Target, Sam's Club and Wal-Mart, carry the exact same variety of product but are far more widespread than the Dollar General company.
Sure, it's always nice for a small town to have a convenience or general store where locals can run casual shopping trips and passerby can stop and grab road snacks.
On the other hand, placing so many Dollar Generals is unsustainable. Many of the stores decorate their outside with large lights on the side of the building, which are left on at night.
On top of this, their parking lots are, of course, paved, and so many in one area requires the large delivery truck to make his rounds to every store, eating up fuel and time that is unnecessary.
Having a small store to buy last minute school supplies and a bag of chips is great, but how many Dollar Generals will we take before we generally cannot handle anymore?
