Dollar General plans store No. 26 in Columbus area. This is how it will benefit city.

Yet another Dollar General store is headed for the Columbus market, this one along a high-traffic corridor just shy of the Harris County line.

The new store — which will be No. 26 for Columbus, Phenix City and the immediate surrounding area — will be going up at 9932 Veterans Parkway, at the intersection of Gray Rock Road. It’s a short distance from Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses and New Birth Outreach Church.

The retail project moved through a recent Columbus Planning Advisory Commission meeting, with Spring Hill Land Trust and Teramore Development seeking to have about 3 acres of land rezoned from a mix of general commercial and residential estate to entirely general commercial.

“We’re seeking to remove those existing buildings (on the property) and put together approximately a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store with completely new common areas, a new parking area, new landscaping, new internally directed lights,” said Columbus attorney George Mize, representing Spring HIll and Thomasville, Ga.-based Teramore, the latter a preferred developer for Dollar General, having worked on 225 outlets in the Southeast over the past 16 years.

Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based Dollar General has amassed just over 15,000 locations in 44 states, with the smaller stores offering packaged and perishable foods, snacks, health and beauty items, pet food and supplies, home and cleaning products and apparel. It has become known for both convenience and filling in the retail cracks where Walmart has yet to place one of its supercenters or neighborhood markets.

Mize, who seems to have become the go-to lawyer locally in retail rezoning cases, ticked off the benefits of having another Dollar General calling Columbus home. He said it starts with construction jobs and supplies purchased to build the outlet over a four-month period. Teramore, which most recently developed the Dollar General on Gentian Boulevard — that one opening in August of last year — spent nearly $1 million on the 7,775-square-foot location, which included demolition of an existing structure.

The new Veterans Parkway store will create between 8 and 10 permanent jobs, Mize said, while also increasing property tax receipts on the site from about $1,850 a year now to more than $28,000 annually.

“We expect to generate about $80,000 a year in sales tax receipts,” he said. “This is a win-win situation. We’re going to remove those stores you saw on the front end (of the PAC presentation), very unattractive, and replace them with a very attractive development, and provide local people with close and convenient shopping. In return, my client’s going to be getting a good location with excellent exposure to Veterans Parkway.”

Planning Advisory Commission members unanimously gave their stamp of approval on the rezoning application, a non-binding vote that now pushes the case to Columbus Council at a future date. Council members have the ultimate authority to approve or deny rezoning applications.

Dollar General’s competitors include Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, with all three continuing to grow and take slices of market share from mega-retailer Walmart and other general merchandise businesses. The Dollar General model, in particular, uses a shotgun approach by scattering low-price outlets throughout markets, making them much more convenient for budget-minded shoppers.

This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 4:36 PM.