Dollar General’s newest store in Urbana, located at 1301 N. Main St., has opened. Urbana now has two Dollar General stores. The other one is located on Water Street.
Staff photo
By Alixandria Wells-Good
Contributing writer
In the midst of the holiday season, a new Dollar General opened its doors on the north side of Urbana.
According to the company’s website, the store’s hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
The new store, located at 1301 North Main St., is the second Dollar General location in Urbana. The first store, located at 650 East Water Street, geographically serves the southern and core sections of Urbana.
Dollar General first came to Urbana in 1993 and was located in the former South Pointe Shopping Center on U.S. Route 68 on Urbana’s south edge, which is now the Champaign County government center. After that, it relocated to the Patrick Plaza shopping center on Patrick Avenue before moving into its own building on Water Street.
“DG stores are proud to provide area residents with an affordable and convenient store location to purchase household essentials including food, cleaning supplies, paper products, over-the-counter medicines, hygiene products, baby items and more through its mission of serving others. In addition to the national and private branded products customers trust Dollar General to carry, the new Urbana location includes the company’s new stylish, on-trend home décor and an expanded party preparation selection.” Dollar General said in a press release circulated in the beginning of January.
The new store also offers a variety of produce to customers, “including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, apples, strawberries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lemons, limes, salad mixes, and more. The produce set offers the top 20 items typically sold in traditional grocery stores and covers approximately 80 percent of produce categories most grocery stores carry,” said the press release.
The new location will enable residents on the far north side of Urbana and north of the city limits easier access to groceries and other necessities.
Access to food is a growing concern for many Ohioans. According to 2017 census statistics, 11.5 percent of Urbana homes have no access to a vehicle, and 41.6 percent of homes have only one vehicle.
No or limited access to a vehicle means that for many families, someone within the home must walk on foot to get necessities for the home. This can be challenging for people who do not live near a grocery store or convenience store.
Things like weather conditions and health of family members make access to food even more challenging for some households. While the Champaign Transit System (CTS) provides low cost transportation within the county for all citizens of Champaign County, their hours of operation are limited to Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and rides require 48 hour advance scheduling. Currently, CTS is the only form of government subsidized public transportation for the general population within the county.
With this Dollar General comes the opportunity for jobs as well as accessibility. According to the press release, “Dollar General plans to create new jobs in the Urbana community as the store is expected to employ approximately six to 10 people, depending on the individual needs of the store.”
According to Dollar General’s job map, there are currently four employment opportunities at the new store, both part time and full time. The map also shows four employment opportunities at the original Urbana Dollar General store.
Dollar General offers grant opportunities to local schools, libraries, and nonprofits within a 15-mile radius of any of its stores. These grants through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation “help individuals of all ages pursue their educational goals and achieve their dreams by investing in literacy programs that help students learn to read, prepare for the high school equivalency or learn English,” according to the foundation’s website.
The press release provided by Dollar General stated, “Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $238 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 19.6 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education.”
More information about the grants and applications, go to dgliteracy.org.
Reach the writer at [email protected].
