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Downtown Dollar General to close when West State Street store opens in spring

The store front at 514 East State Street where the downtown Dollar General Store has operated will be vacant when the store being built at 1000 West State Street opens in the spring of 2018. (Salem News photo by Larry Shields)

SALEM – When the Dollar General Store under construction at 1000 West State Street is opened, it will be staffed with personnel from the downtown store on East State Street which will close.

Angela Petkovic, a spokesperson for Dollar General said Monday, “Our store that is currently located at 514 E. State Street will relocate to the new location at the completion of construction, which is currently slated for spring 2018.”

“When the new store is completed, employees at our current location will simply transfer to the new store.”

Mayor John Berlin said, “I think a lot of people will miss it. We’ve kind of transitioned into more entertainment and specialty. It will mean some decisions for people who have walked through that store for years.”

He wondered if the Sparkle Market on South Lundy Avenue might be where a lot of customers will go, but he added, “The current location has obviously been a location people can get to easily.

“You never know another store may move into it. Hopefully it won’t remain vacant very long.”

Work on the Dollar General Store at West State Street started on Oct. 3 with crews from R&F Excavating in Hubbard and Huffman & Son Excavating, LLC in Lisbon clearing ground.

Dollar General, which is headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tn. will still operate two stores in Salem, with the other store located in the Salem Plaza at 2350 East State Street.

“When choosing store locations, meeting customers’ needs is Dollar General’s top priority,” Petkovic said when asked about a third location the company may have in mind in the Salem market.

“The company looks for places where we can offer customers an easy and convenient shopping choice.

“We know convenience is a major factor in our customers’ shopping decisions as we generally serve customers within a three to five mile radius, or 10 minute drive.

“We also take demographic trends, competitive factors, traffic patterns and community concerns into consideration,” she said.

According the company website, Dollalr General is America’s neighborhood general store, making shopping easy and affordable with more than 12,500 convenient stores in 43 states.

It says it delivers low prices on name-brand products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, as well as cleaning supplies, family apparel, housewares and seasonal items.

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