Since 2019, Fruitdale residents have relied on their local Dollar General for convenient and affordable shopping.

This year, the community came together for change because their beloved Dollar General fell short in one major category—fresh produce.

Crystal Luce, Senior Director of Public Relations at Dollar General, explained why DG’s transformation of the location was so important for the local community.

“When our team received the community’s petition to add fresh produce, which was signed by more than 200 families, we listened,” said Luce.

“The petition stated, “Dollar General is thought to be ‘America’s neighborhood general store.’ There is no truer statement than this for the Fruitdale DG.” In fall 2023, we remodeled the store to provide fresh produce, in addition to the products customers already trust DG to provide.” 

Luce went into detail about the food being offered at DG’s throughout the country.

“Today, customers can now purchase approximately 80% of the produce categories carried by most grocery stores at their local DG – including a curated assortment of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, apples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lemons, limes, and salad mixes and more. The store will also continue to offer frozen and refrigerated food offerings, in addition to the same categories, brands and products that customers trust Dollar General to carry.”

“When we added produce, we also added our DG Wellbeing initiative that includes hundreds of additional health and wellness products including an increased assortment of cough and cold, dental, nutritional, medical, health aids and feminine hygiene products to meet more customers’ needs.” 

Luce elaborated on how the store has supported the needs of the community.

“We believe each new store provides positive economic benefits including additional access to affordable products for customers; the creation of new jobs for local residents and career development opportunities for our employees; the generation of additional tax revenue for the city; and the ability for local nonprofits, schools and libraries to apply for literacy and education grants through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.” 

“We are proud to serve Fruitdale as a strong business partner and good neighbor, and we hope is to make the relationship between the community and Dollar General a mutually beneficial one.”

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.