Developer reports plans for Market store on Hwy 34
Dirt work has begun on a site just north of Highway 34 at the west edge of Aurora for what will soon be a new Dollar General Market, opening perhaps as early as December.
A parcel of land owned by the Luthy family for many years was sold last month to First Link LLC, a development company based in Pittsburgh, Penn. Andrew Buccardo, project manager with First Link, confirmed plans this week which he said have been in the works for quite some time.
“The good thing you can say is that it’s actually going to be one of the market stores, which is the new, up-and-coming Dollar General,” Buccardo shared in a phone interview. “It’s the biggest and best Dollar General they are now offering so it will be great for that area.”
Having worked with the Tennessee-based Dollar General on other projects, Buccardo said the company typically builds stores ranging in size from 9,000 sq. ft. to 10,000 sq. ft., with the newest DG Market measuring 12,000 sq. ft.
Asked if he is aware of plans for the existing Dollar General located on Highway 14 in Aurora, Buccardo had this to say.
“I think that as of now that one is staying,” he said. “I think it’s just far enough on the other side of town where it’s not really expected to affect the new store, so as of now there is no plan that I know of to close that one.”
Buccardo further explained his company’s role in the project, noting that First Link bought the property with plans to build the structure and then turn it over to Dollar General. A building permit for the project valued at $1.5 million was filed in May at Aurora City Hall, with the name on the permit listed as Terry Luthy.
“We will turn it over to Dollar General in August and then they do their part with all the interior stuff,” Buccardo said. “They might not open until December, I don’t know for sure. All I know is that we are turning it over to Dollar General in August.”
Local history
Dollar General has a long history in the community of Aurora dating back to 2000. At that time the company moved into a building which previously housed a Christian book store. John and Alayne Olson of Aurora bought that business from the Roszhart family in 1995 and closed the book store three years later. Dollar General then leased the structure from Olson until a fire broke out in the back warehouse in February of 2019, which prompted the decision to demolish the damaged structure.
Olson then built a new structure, signing a 15-year lease with the company to continue operations as a Dollar General. Olson reported last week that he has not been advised of the company’s long-term plans for the Highway 14 location.
Dollar General background
The new store to be built on Highway 34 will be among the 19,000 stores Dollar General now operates in 47 states. The company has invested heavily in nationwide expansion plans in recent years, according to its website, including a $140 million investment in a Nebraska distribution center located in Washington County. The Blair facility, expected to create approximately 400 new careers at full capacity, is scheduled to open later this summer.
“As the company’s first ground-up dual distribution center, Blair combines the efficiencies of traditional and DG Fresh supply chain networks, which is its strategic, multi-phased shift to self-distribution of frozen and refrigerated products,” the website explained. “The DG Fresh network is currently delivering to more than 19,000 stores from 12 facilities.”
As of May 5, the company’s 19,294 Dollar General, DG Market, DGX and pOpshelf stores across the United States and Mexico provide everyday essentials including food, health and wellness products, cleaning and laundry supplies, self-care and beauty items, and seasonal decor from private brands alongside many of the world’s well-known brands such as Coca Cola, PepsiCo/Frito-Lay, General Mills, Hershey, J.M. Smucker, Kraft, Mars, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever.
“While the macroeconomic environment has been more challenging than expected, particularly for our core customer, we are confident in Dollar General’s ability to deliver strong growth in the years ahead, despite the near-term pressure which impacted our first quarter sales results and is anticipated to impact our full-year sales and EPS,” Jeff Owen, Dollar General’s chief executive officer said in a statement posted on the company’s website. “We are controlling what we can control and have made significant progress improving our execution on multiple fronts, including on our supply chain recovery efforts and enhancements to the customer experience with our previously announced investment in incremental labor hours.”
The company reported net income of $514.4 million for the first quarter of 2023, a decrease of 6.9 percent compared to $552.7 million in the first quarter of 2022.