The following is a letter to the editor submitted to the newspaper by a reader. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Echo Press. To submit a letter, send it to aedenloff@echopress.com or Echo Press, P.O. Box 549, Alexandria, MN 56308
Seeking to reshape small towns
Brian Depew Guest columnist
Dollar General has become a ubiquitous feature of America’s small towns. The discount retailer is opening about 1,000 stores per year, with more than 16,000 spread across the country.
Many local economic developers see the discount retailer as a threat to local retail.
Other economic developers argue that Dollar General creates jobs and helps keep shoppers in town. I get it. In thousands of miles spent traversing the rural Midwest, I have found myself in small towns with no other retail or grocery options.
The irony is that this solution makes the situation worse with low-wage jobs, loss of local ownership, and loss of local tax revenue when other businesses close or fail to open because they cannot, or don’t want to, compete with a corporate behemoth.