Store doing 'due diligence' in North Bend

by Nathan Arneal
Published 10/14/15

The process of bringing a Dollar General store to North Bend is progressing, though at this point a time line on when construction might start and when the store would open is still up in the air.

Heather Martin of Abeln and Associates Architects says so far the permitting process has gone smoothly and the plans are now in the hands of the general contractor.

Dollar General spokesman James Menees told the Eagle that the North Bend store is still officially in the “due diligence” phase.

“That means we’re considering a location there but not committed to building one quite yet,” he said. “We’re still assessing the location for a possible store.”
Dollar General and its contractor have already been granted a building permit by the city of North Bend and have paid a $1,200 permit fee, which could be a pretty good indicator that the company is satisfied with what its due diligence has turned up.

Dollar General has not yet closed on the ground it is eyeing in the southeast corner of town. The store would be located on the triangle piece of ground on the south side of Highway 30 formerly used to showcase equipment for Johnson Farm Equipment.

Menees described Dollar General as a discount retailer offering name brand products that are replenished daily.

“There are some food products, essentials like cleaning supplies,” Menees said. “There is a bit of hardware, some auto care, a little bit of everything.”

Dollar General has more than 12,000 stores in 43 states, including many in smaller towns like North Bend. There are Dollar General stores in Schuyler, Hooper, West Point, Oakland and two in Fremont.

“We’re all about convenience and servicing customers usually within a three to five mile radius of a store, or a 10-minute drive,” Menees said. “Often times that happens to be a smaller town and community. We were started in a smaller town and that in many ways has been the model.”

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