Whitehall pushes for Dollar General expansion

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Mach's Market Business Spotlight

By Donna Frischknecht

Access to a full-service and affordable grocery store remains an on-going pursuit for Whitehall’s village planning board, which received a petition last winter asking government officials to offer incentives for a supermarket to locate here.
The petition bearing 835 signatures was spearheaded by David Molenaar, now a member of the planning board, and it was presented to both the village board and town board.
At the time, Ken Bartholomew, village mayor, said there weren’t many incentives to attract a national grocery chain into Whitehall, citing a 2011 feasibility survey’s conclusion that the small population was a deterrent.
“Big stores like Price Chopper require a population of at least 16,000, we don’t have that,” Bartholomew said.
But the planning board did get village and town support to approach smaller, regional grocers, and to date, “dozens of regional chains” have been contacted, with the board still “waiting to hear back from others,” said Molenaar.
Meanwhile, the planning board is exploring another possibility.
A vacant storefront next door to the Dollar General on Route 4 has been identified as a potential expansion project for the discount retailer.
“We believe this would make a wonderful place for Dollar General to operate a full-service grocery store,” Molenaar said.
In addition to its traditional multi-product stores that offer a small selection of groceries, Dollar General offers other retail formats to meet specific market needs. Among them is the full-service grocery store called “Dollar General Market.”
“With retailers reviewing their locations annually, we thought it would be a good idea to reach out to Dollar General to bring this store to Whitehall,” Molenaar said.
At the Dec. 6 village board meeting, Molenaar presented a letter drafted to the Tennessee-based retailer, citing the opportunity for the retailer to open a full-service grocery store in the vacant storefront.
The letter cited the potential growth for Dollar General, stating its already established presence in the community and its well-trafficked location, coupled with the reality that many of Whitehall’s residents already think of Dollar General when thinking about buying groceries.
The village board agreed unanimously to support the inquiry and to send the letter on village letterhead. Bartholomew said it was good to show support to “an established business which has proven successful.”
The finalized letter will be presented for village board approval at its next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 20.
Calls to Dollar General for comment were not returned.