Friday, August 26, 2011
Please sign our online petition.
Please sign our online petition! Simply click on the "Sign Petition" button below this post.
Your email information will not be sold or shared with anyone. You can sign the petition "Anonymous" if you prefer.
Thanks again for all of your support!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Important updates!
We have had some major developments since my initial email went out to the CEO and Board of Directors on Sunday August 21st at 7:30pm. Within 2 hours I received a call from Michael, the District Manager in charge of the stores featured in my blog. He said he was heading to the stores to get them up to company standards and he appreciated my call. I thought that might be the last I heard from Dollar General, but I was impressed that the email had went to the right person and it had enough of an impact for them to call me at 9:30pm on a Sunday night.
Monday night just about the time I walked in the front door, our home phone was ringing. It was John Jewell, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission for the City of Alexandria. Mr. Jewell was very nice, but also very specific. He said that my suggestion of showing a power point presentation at the planning and zoning (P&Z) meeting was not appropriate. He also said that the P&Z meeting that might eventually happen to discuss the store was not the place for anyone to stand up and give their opinion either for or against the store. He said if the discussion was about changing the zoning of a piece of land from residential to highway commercial to allow Dollar General to build, then we would have a chance at keeping them from building. However, since the site has been zoned highway commercial since before the first house in Summerlake was built, there was nothing, short of purchasing the property ourselves, that we could do to prevent Dollar General from building on the land. He said that the plans were originally submitted to the city engineers who had reviewed the plans and made suggestions for changes. Dollar General(DG) now has to give their amended changes back to the engineers who will either send them back to DG for additional changes, or approve the changes. If they approve the changes, the site plan will be added to the docket for the very next P&Z meeting. At that time, the P&Z's job is really just administrative, and as long as everything proposed is legal, the plan will be given the OK. He did mention however that the whole entrance of Summerlake was going to need to be redesigned. He said that it will be very similar to the entrance's by the Speedway on US 27 (near the old Thriftway, and across from Little Red Schoolhouse) and the entrance to Walgreens across from Wal-Mart. It will have 2 dedicated lanes coming in, one that will be left turn only to get into Dollar General, and one that will go straight ahead into the subdivision. He said there will also be 2 lanes going out, one dedicated left turn only, and one dedicated right turn only. He said that the 1st island you come to in the subdivision will be torn out and replaced with a different one. I asked him if my tax dollars were going to pay for all of this work and he assured me the cost would be covered by the developer. I also asked him if they were going to get a separate entrance and exit from and onto US 27 like Walgreens and Speedway, but he said no, the state of Kentucky will not allow any "additional curbage" that close to the intersection of US 27. So the only way in and out of the Dollar General will also be the only way in and out of Summerlake Drive. He assured me that the City of Alexandria has rules and laws governing the condition of the stores in their city, and that Dollar General would be held to the same high standards as the rest of the businesses now operating in the city. He did mention however that most of the zoning enforcement that is done is done as a direct result of complaints. So if we see something in the future that we don't like, the best way to take action is to email the city Zoning Administrator Carol Hofstetter (who I have dealt with on other matters of abandon homes in our neighborhood, and I must say she has always been very prompt and courteous in her responses to my emails). He concluded by saying that he would allow one member of our community (me) a chance to address the P&Z commission so that our sentiments can go on record as opposing the site. But he made it very clear that it would not influence the outcome of the commission's ruling. And that no more than one person will be allowed to speak in opposition of the site since in his words, "that is not the time or place" to speak out. He also said that he would personally address the Dollar General representative and let them know what kind of opposition he has encountered with the store and remind the Dollar General store rep. that they better "mind their P's and Q's" or they will have numerous complaints filed against them. Mr. Jewell said that he empathizes with our community, but beyond that, there is nothing that he can do for us. I thanked him for his time and hung up the phone feeling slightly defeated, but also more determined than ever.
Tuesday afternoon I was busy in my office when my cell phone rang. Not knowing the number, and already deep in a conversation on my work phone, I let the call go to voice mail. Several minutes later when I checked the message I was surprised to hear that it was from Steve Brimner, Vice President of Store Operations and Store Development for Dollar General. He said that he appreciated my email and would like to speak with me. After work I called Steve's number and left a voice mail for him to call me back. 10 minutes later Steve called and we had a good conversation. He was very pleasant and mentioned several times how grateful he was for my email. He said that he wanted to assure me that Dollar General was now aware of the conditions of the stores in my email, and that maintenance crews had already been dispatched to the stores to get them in shape. He said that he was new to his job, having been at it less than 6 months, and he had not personally visited any of the stores. He wanted to assure me that the things I took pictures of at the other stores would be fixed, and never allowed to happen at the store in front of Summerlake. Before parting ways, I let him know the extreme opposition to building a store that they are facing from our neighborhood, and also how bad DG's reputation in our area is. I told him that although I could not speak for everyone, the only thing that I personally want is a good neighbor at the front of our subdivision. I told him that for the most part, the demographics of our subdivision were people between the ages of 30 and 45 who have worked hard all their life to build a home of their dreams and they have finally found a community good enough to raise children in, and probably retire in. The other demographic in our community seems to be 60+ year olds that have worked hard all of their lives and have finally found a place that they would like to retire. Either way, we are not a subdivision made up of renters and people that only plan on staying here for a year or two before moving on. Most of the residents that are here now will still be here 5, 10, or 15 years down the road. So if they upset us now, it's not something that will go away overnight. I told him that the I want the first guests to my house after the store opening to come to my house and tell me how wonderful the store at the front of my subdivision looks. I do not want people to come to my house and express disgust that there is just another ugly Dollar General store at the front of our subdivision. I asked him what kind of plans they have in mind for their store. He told me that it will be one of the nicest Dollar General's in the country. It will be brick siding, with a nice large awning, and a very nice fence to divide the neighborhood from the store. I told him that at this point I still have my doubts that they can run a nice store in front of our subdivision, but I hope more than anything that he will prove me wrong and stand behind his word to make our Dollar General the nicest one around.He then invited me to meet with the developer, review the plans for the store, and address any of my concerns to her. He said he would also like me to let him know what my concerns were and although he could not promise to accommodate my every wish, he would take any suggestions into consideration. I accepted his offer to meet with the developer, and I thanked him for his time. He once again said he appreciated my interest and my email, and that if I ever needed anything, be it one week or 5 years down the road, to not hesitate to call or email him any time.
At this time I have a tentative meeting with the developer, Ms Susan Cox, on Monday August 29th.
I have also been in touch with someone who works for the Cincinnati Enquirer and KY Post and there is potentially some interest in our story/plight against Dollar General.
I am happy to report over 300 individual hits to this website. Please pass it on to anyone you know that might be interested. Let's keep the heat turned up, together there is no telling what we might accomplish.
For more information, or to volunteer to help, please email me at volffas@gmail.com
Thank you!
Andy Schabell
Monday night just about the time I walked in the front door, our home phone was ringing. It was John Jewell, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission for the City of Alexandria. Mr. Jewell was very nice, but also very specific. He said that my suggestion of showing a power point presentation at the planning and zoning (P&Z) meeting was not appropriate. He also said that the P&Z meeting that might eventually happen to discuss the store was not the place for anyone to stand up and give their opinion either for or against the store. He said if the discussion was about changing the zoning of a piece of land from residential to highway commercial to allow Dollar General to build, then we would have a chance at keeping them from building. However, since the site has been zoned highway commercial since before the first house in Summerlake was built, there was nothing, short of purchasing the property ourselves, that we could do to prevent Dollar General from building on the land. He said that the plans were originally submitted to the city engineers who had reviewed the plans and made suggestions for changes. Dollar General(DG) now has to give their amended changes back to the engineers who will either send them back to DG for additional changes, or approve the changes. If they approve the changes, the site plan will be added to the docket for the very next P&Z meeting. At that time, the P&Z's job is really just administrative, and as long as everything proposed is legal, the plan will be given the OK. He did mention however that the whole entrance of Summerlake was going to need to be redesigned. He said that it will be very similar to the entrance's by the Speedway on US 27 (near the old Thriftway, and across from Little Red Schoolhouse) and the entrance to Walgreens across from Wal-Mart. It will have 2 dedicated lanes coming in, one that will be left turn only to get into Dollar General, and one that will go straight ahead into the subdivision. He said there will also be 2 lanes going out, one dedicated left turn only, and one dedicated right turn only. He said that the 1st island you come to in the subdivision will be torn out and replaced with a different one. I asked him if my tax dollars were going to pay for all of this work and he assured me the cost would be covered by the developer. I also asked him if they were going to get a separate entrance and exit from and onto US 27 like Walgreens and Speedway, but he said no, the state of Kentucky will not allow any "additional curbage" that close to the intersection of US 27. So the only way in and out of the Dollar General will also be the only way in and out of Summerlake Drive. He assured me that the City of Alexandria has rules and laws governing the condition of the stores in their city, and that Dollar General would be held to the same high standards as the rest of the businesses now operating in the city. He did mention however that most of the zoning enforcement that is done is done as a direct result of complaints. So if we see something in the future that we don't like, the best way to take action is to email the city Zoning Administrator Carol Hofstetter (who I have dealt with on other matters of abandon homes in our neighborhood, and I must say she has always been very prompt and courteous in her responses to my emails). He concluded by saying that he would allow one member of our community (me) a chance to address the P&Z commission so that our sentiments can go on record as opposing the site. But he made it very clear that it would not influence the outcome of the commission's ruling. And that no more than one person will be allowed to speak in opposition of the site since in his words, "that is not the time or place" to speak out. He also said that he would personally address the Dollar General representative and let them know what kind of opposition he has encountered with the store and remind the Dollar General store rep. that they better "mind their P's and Q's" or they will have numerous complaints filed against them. Mr. Jewell said that he empathizes with our community, but beyond that, there is nothing that he can do for us. I thanked him for his time and hung up the phone feeling slightly defeated, but also more determined than ever.
Tuesday afternoon I was busy in my office when my cell phone rang. Not knowing the number, and already deep in a conversation on my work phone, I let the call go to voice mail. Several minutes later when I checked the message I was surprised to hear that it was from Steve Brimner, Vice President of Store Operations and Store Development for Dollar General. He said that he appreciated my email and would like to speak with me. After work I called Steve's number and left a voice mail for him to call me back. 10 minutes later Steve called and we had a good conversation. He was very pleasant and mentioned several times how grateful he was for my email. He said that he wanted to assure me that Dollar General was now aware of the conditions of the stores in my email, and that maintenance crews had already been dispatched to the stores to get them in shape. He said that he was new to his job, having been at it less than 6 months, and he had not personally visited any of the stores. He wanted to assure me that the things I took pictures of at the other stores would be fixed, and never allowed to happen at the store in front of Summerlake. Before parting ways, I let him know the extreme opposition to building a store that they are facing from our neighborhood, and also how bad DG's reputation in our area is. I told him that although I could not speak for everyone, the only thing that I personally want is a good neighbor at the front of our subdivision. I told him that for the most part, the demographics of our subdivision were people between the ages of 30 and 45 who have worked hard all their life to build a home of their dreams and they have finally found a community good enough to raise children in, and probably retire in. The other demographic in our community seems to be 60+ year olds that have worked hard all of their lives and have finally found a place that they would like to retire. Either way, we are not a subdivision made up of renters and people that only plan on staying here for a year or two before moving on. Most of the residents that are here now will still be here 5, 10, or 15 years down the road. So if they upset us now, it's not something that will go away overnight. I told him that the I want the first guests to my house after the store opening to come to my house and tell me how wonderful the store at the front of my subdivision looks. I do not want people to come to my house and express disgust that there is just another ugly Dollar General store at the front of our subdivision. I asked him what kind of plans they have in mind for their store. He told me that it will be one of the nicest Dollar General's in the country. It will be brick siding, with a nice large awning, and a very nice fence to divide the neighborhood from the store. I told him that at this point I still have my doubts that they can run a nice store in front of our subdivision, but I hope more than anything that he will prove me wrong and stand behind his word to make our Dollar General the nicest one around.He then invited me to meet with the developer, review the plans for the store, and address any of my concerns to her. He said he would also like me to let him know what my concerns were and although he could not promise to accommodate my every wish, he would take any suggestions into consideration. I accepted his offer to meet with the developer, and I thanked him for his time. He once again said he appreciated my interest and my email, and that if I ever needed anything, be it one week or 5 years down the road, to not hesitate to call or email him any time.
At this time I have a tentative meeting with the developer, Ms Susan Cox, on Monday August 29th.
I have also been in touch with someone who works for the Cincinnati Enquirer and KY Post and there is potentially some interest in our story/plight against Dollar General.
I am happy to report over 300 individual hits to this website. Please pass it on to anyone you know that might be interested. Let's keep the heat turned up, together there is no telling what we might accomplish.
For more information, or to volunteer to help, please email me at volffas@gmail.com
Thank you!
Andy Schabell
Email sent to CEO and Board of Directors of Dollar General
The following email was sent Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 7:12 PM and titled "Concerns over proposed Dollar General store, and the overall condition of Dollar General stores in Northern Kentucky"
It was sent to the following Dollar General executives:
Richard W. Dreiling; Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
David M. Tehle; Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Steve Brimner; Vice President of Store Operations and Store Development
Todd Vasos; Division President and Chief Merchandising Officer
John W. Flanigan; Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain
Susan S. Lanigan; Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Bob Ravener; Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer
Anita Elliott; Senior Vice President and Controller
Mr Dreiling,
My name is Andy Schabell, I live in Alexandria, Kentucky. I am very concerned about a Dollar General store that is being proposed at the entrance of my subdivision.
I know that you are busy so I will keep this brief. I would like to know if all Dollar General stores are operated like the ones I visited several weeks ago in Northern Kentucky. I saw stores that did not have dumpster corrals, stores that had been run into by vehicles and never repaired, stores that had so many potholes in their parking lots that patrons would park across the street and walk to the store, stores that had broken dumpster corrals, and stores that had trash lying on the ground all around them.
I have documented the stores that I visited on this website; http://nosummerlakedollargeneral.blogspot.com/
My question is; Is this the way the store you are going to build at the end of my subdivision is going to be? I would like to have some reassurance that not only will my store be different and well kept, but also that the stores pictured on my website will be thoroughly cleaned up and made to be good residents of their respective communities.
I would appreciate a response to my question, either via email at volffas@gmail.com, or you can call me at ***-***-****.
Thank you for your time,
Andy Schabell
It was sent to the following Dollar General executives:
Richard W. Dreiling; Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
David M. Tehle; Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Steve Brimner; Vice President of Store Operations and Store Development
Todd Vasos; Division President and Chief Merchandising Officer
John W. Flanigan; Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain
Susan S. Lanigan; Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Bob Ravener; Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer
Anita Elliott; Senior Vice President and Controller
Mr Dreiling,
My name is Andy Schabell, I live in Alexandria, Kentucky. I am very concerned about a Dollar General store that is being proposed at the entrance of my subdivision.
I know that you are busy so I will keep this brief. I would like to know if all Dollar General stores are operated like the ones I visited several weeks ago in Northern Kentucky. I saw stores that did not have dumpster corrals, stores that had been run into by vehicles and never repaired, stores that had so many potholes in their parking lots that patrons would park across the street and walk to the store, stores that had broken dumpster corrals, and stores that had trash lying on the ground all around them.
I have documented the stores that I visited on this website; http://nosummerlakedollargeneral.blogspot.com/
My question is; Is this the way the store you are going to build at the end of my subdivision is going to be? I would like to have some reassurance that not only will my store be different and well kept, but also that the stores pictured on my website will be thoroughly cleaned up and made to be good residents of their respective communities.
I would appreciate a response to my question, either via email at volffas@gmail.com, or you can call me at ***-***-****.
Thank you for your time,
Andy Schabell
The People have spoken
Thank you for all of the words of encouragement to keep up the fight. We had a very successful flyer campaign thanks to Brad and Lisa Wolf. More residents are now aware of what is going on and they want to help out. I have had numerous emails asking to be added to the list for updates, but not one single email in favor of Dollar General.
Some things that have been said;
Please include me in any future e-mails regarding this matter. I am highly opposed to a Dollar General being the "face" of our neighborhood as well. I think we can all safely say that is not the image that we were purchasing when we bought our homes. Dollar General is fine for Newport and Silver Grove, but not for this specific portion of land. I am sure that a Dollar General did not affect the property values where they are located in Newport or Silver Grove because there is not a subdivision neighboring either of those store locations. Also, we take pride in knowing the faces that we see daily in our neighborhood and knowing that our children are safe to run through their neighborhood home. With a Dollar General store as our neighbor we compromise our capability of being able to ensure that are children are safe on the playground, at the fishing lakes and walking trails, especially if they like walking the trail that begins at the playground and come out right at the entrance to the front of the neighborhood where the Dollar General would be. Not to be blunt or abrasive, but that would be an open invitation to predators to go back through our walking trail straight from a public lot directly into our children's playground. No child could be guaranteed the level of safety as we know it now. This is our home and we must protect and preserve what is ours so it is not conformed and degraded to fit the needs of a business.
Thank you for what you are doing in bringing about an awareness to our community of the downfalls of the proposed Dollar General near the entrance of our subdivision. You can count me and my wife "in" with a petition to city council to stop the process. Not only would this be a problem of aesthetics and reduction in property values for nearby homes, but also has the potential to hinder traffic flow at the entrance into our neighborhood.
We will keep up the fight!
Some things that have been said;
Please include me in any future e-mails regarding this matter. I am highly opposed to a Dollar General being the "face" of our neighborhood as well. I think we can all safely say that is not the image that we were purchasing when we bought our homes. Dollar General is fine for Newport and Silver Grove, but not for this specific portion of land. I am sure that a Dollar General did not affect the property values where they are located in Newport or Silver Grove because there is not a subdivision neighboring either of those store locations. Also, we take pride in knowing the faces that we see daily in our neighborhood and knowing that our children are safe to run through their neighborhood home. With a Dollar General store as our neighbor we compromise our capability of being able to ensure that are children are safe on the playground, at the fishing lakes and walking trails, especially if they like walking the trail that begins at the playground and come out right at the entrance to the front of the neighborhood where the Dollar General would be. Not to be blunt or abrasive, but that would be an open invitation to predators to go back through our walking trail straight from a public lot directly into our children's playground. No child could be guaranteed the level of safety as we know it now. This is our home and we must protect and preserve what is ours so it is not conformed and degraded to fit the needs of a business.
Thank you for what you are doing in bringing about an awareness to our community of the downfalls of the proposed Dollar General near the entrance of our subdivision. You can count me and my wife "in" with a petition to city council to stop the process. Not only would this be a problem of aesthetics and reduction in property values for nearby homes, but also has the potential to hinder traffic flow at the entrance into our neighborhood.
We will keep up the fight!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Please join us in opposing Dollar General at their proposed location at US27 and Summerlake Drive
On Friday August 5th 2011, the Summerlake Subdivision in Alexandria, KY was rocked by a report by the Cincinnati Enquirer that Dollar General had entered the initial process of planning a store at the front of their subdivision. The article can be found here; http://cincinnati.com/blogs/campbellcountyconnects/2011/08/05/dollar-general-coming-to-alexandria/
Immediately Summerlake home owners started communicating the news with each other via social networking and old fashioned word of mouth. The residents were very unhappy to find out that a store with the reputation of being messy both on the inside and out was planning on opening at the entrance to their subdivision.
The same night as the article was published a long and detailed email was sent to all members of the Alexandria city council, the planning and zoning administrator, and the Mayor. On the morning of August 6th I met with the Mayor, police chief, and city council members face to face at the monthly "Coffee with the Mayor" at the Alexandria city building. At that time they were unaware of the article, or what Dollar General was proposing.
On the evening of Monday August 9th I decided to take a drive to nearby Dollar General stores in Northern Kentucky. What I saw absolutely scared me to death!
Warning, the following pictures may make you sick to your stomach.... Reminder, all photos were taken on one night without any staging or set ups at all. These photos have not be edited or enhanced in any way. The trash and clutter that you will see at these stores is REAL.
For more information on helping stand up and be heard opposing this store please contact Andy Schabell at volffas@gmail.com
I first visited the Dollar General in Silver Grove, KY. This store is very new and overall pretty clean. However as soon as I pulled into the entrance I noticed a cart used for keeping cardboard tipped over and laying in mud with cardboard scattered on the ground. Upon closer inspection it was easy to see that the cart had been laying on it's side for several days without anyone bothering to pickup it up. I had a premonition that if this store was less than a month old and already had garbage scattered around it, the other stores were really going to be bad. I would find out soon enough how right I was.
Here is the Silver Grove, KY store from the front, if you look to the right of the store and towards the back you can see the rack tipped over.
Here are some close pictures of the rack tipped over. Also notice the garbage bag outside the delivery door. There is no dumpster corral on site, and no dumpster on site, even though the store is operating daily.
Pictures from Dollar General store, Falmouth, KY.
Grass not cut, sign has all kinds of straps and zip ties from previous ads.
Rusty racks with old cardboard in them, broken carts on side of building near the front of the store.
Old damage to side of building left unfixed.
Potholes all over in parking lot.
Next stop Crittenden, KY Dollar General.
As soon as you pull in the parking lot you can see that there are no gates on front of the dumpster corral, and there is trash everywhere inside of the corral.
Grass not cut, parking lot not maintained.
More racks with soggy cardboard and two bags of trash next to the racks.
Next up Dollar General Store Burlington, KY. The first thing you see when you pull in is the Dollar General sign with weeds growing out of control around it.
This store also had the worst corral of all of them. Trash everywhere. Wood corral that has long ago stopped functioning. The wood is falling apart, the hinges are bent. No attempt at all made to put trash into dumpster.
More racks... AND they didn't even bother to make sure the soggy cardboard was in the racks.
Next was the newer Dollar General on Dixie Highway in Florence. This is obviously a newer store, and was the best overall condition of all of the stores that I visited. It was starting to rain and almost 8pm on a Monday night, but the store was still crowded. The corral had cinder block sides and wood gates. However, they still have the racks with soggy cardboard sitting outside of the corral. They did make an effort to hide the heating and air conditioning units on the side with evergreens, but there were not enough evergreens, and they were not tall enough.
Next stop, Dollar General, Cave Run Road, Erlanger, KY.
Notice they don't even have a corral. There was trash laying next to the dumpster, skids along the side of the building, and old damage to the building that has not been fixed. As I was leaving a car pulled up to the dumpster and unloaded their personal garbage into the dumpster. I realize this is not Dollar General's fault, but having open dumpsters in parking lots does help facilitate these kind of actions.
Having seen enough, I called it a night. Hopefully these pictures will help spread the word on how terrible Dollar General could be as a neighbor. In our current economy, I strongly encourage growth and development, but we cannot go backwards in the name of progress. The city of Alexandria, and the fine people of Summerlake Subdivision have spent years making our city and our subdivision one of the best places to live. We cannot have our image ruined by a company that makes the bottom dollar the top priority and does not appear to worry about maintaining a good image for the community they operate in.
Immediately Summerlake home owners started communicating the news with each other via social networking and old fashioned word of mouth. The residents were very unhappy to find out that a store with the reputation of being messy both on the inside and out was planning on opening at the entrance to their subdivision.
The same night as the article was published a long and detailed email was sent to all members of the Alexandria city council, the planning and zoning administrator, and the Mayor. On the morning of August 6th I met with the Mayor, police chief, and city council members face to face at the monthly "Coffee with the Mayor" at the Alexandria city building. At that time they were unaware of the article, or what Dollar General was proposing.
On the evening of Monday August 9th I decided to take a drive to nearby Dollar General stores in Northern Kentucky. What I saw absolutely scared me to death!
Warning, the following pictures may make you sick to your stomach.... Reminder, all photos were taken on one night without any staging or set ups at all. These photos have not be edited or enhanced in any way. The trash and clutter that you will see at these stores is REAL.
For more information on helping stand up and be heard opposing this store please contact Andy Schabell at volffas@gmail.com
I first visited the Dollar General in Silver Grove, KY. This store is very new and overall pretty clean. However as soon as I pulled into the entrance I noticed a cart used for keeping cardboard tipped over and laying in mud with cardboard scattered on the ground. Upon closer inspection it was easy to see that the cart had been laying on it's side for several days without anyone bothering to pickup it up. I had a premonition that if this store was less than a month old and already had garbage scattered around it, the other stores were really going to be bad. I would find out soon enough how right I was.
Here is the Silver Grove, KY store from the front, if you look to the right of the store and towards the back you can see the rack tipped over.
Here are some close pictures of the rack tipped over. Also notice the garbage bag outside the delivery door. There is no dumpster corral on site, and no dumpster on site, even though the store is operating daily.
Pictures from Dollar General store, Falmouth, KY.
Grass not cut, sign has all kinds of straps and zip ties from previous ads.
Rusty racks with old cardboard in them, broken carts on side of building near the front of the store.
Old damage to side of building left unfixed.
Potholes all over in parking lot.
Next stop Crittenden, KY Dollar General.
As soon as you pull in the parking lot you can see that there are no gates on front of the dumpster corral, and there is trash everywhere inside of the corral.
Grass not cut, parking lot not maintained.
More racks with soggy cardboard and two bags of trash next to the racks.
Next up Dollar General Store Burlington, KY. The first thing you see when you pull in is the Dollar General sign with weeds growing out of control around it.
This store also had the worst corral of all of them. Trash everywhere. Wood corral that has long ago stopped functioning. The wood is falling apart, the hinges are bent. No attempt at all made to put trash into dumpster.
More racks... AND they didn't even bother to make sure the soggy cardboard was in the racks.
Next was the newer Dollar General on Dixie Highway in Florence. This is obviously a newer store, and was the best overall condition of all of the stores that I visited. It was starting to rain and almost 8pm on a Monday night, but the store was still crowded. The corral had cinder block sides and wood gates. However, they still have the racks with soggy cardboard sitting outside of the corral. They did make an effort to hide the heating and air conditioning units on the side with evergreens, but there were not enough evergreens, and they were not tall enough.
Next stop, Dollar General, Cave Run Road, Erlanger, KY.
Notice they don't even have a corral. There was trash laying next to the dumpster, skids along the side of the building, and old damage to the building that has not been fixed. As I was leaving a car pulled up to the dumpster and unloaded their personal garbage into the dumpster. I realize this is not Dollar General's fault, but having open dumpsters in parking lots does help facilitate these kind of actions.
Having seen enough, I called it a night. Hopefully these pictures will help spread the word on how terrible Dollar General could be as a neighbor. In our current economy, I strongly encourage growth and development, but we cannot go backwards in the name of progress. The city of Alexandria, and the fine people of Summerlake Subdivision have spent years making our city and our subdivision one of the best places to live. We cannot have our image ruined by a company that makes the bottom dollar the top priority and does not appear to worry about maintaining a good image for the community they operate in.
For more information on helping stand up and be heard opposing this store please contact Andy Schabell at volffas@gmail.com
Thank you.
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