DG Market readies for spring opening
The new Dollar General Market planned for the space of the former Shop-Rite supermarket at 108 Creek St. in Rocky Top should open sometime this spring, Dollar General Corp. confirmed last week.
“DG is now currently under construction on a new location at Creek Street in Rocky Top, Tennessee,” the company said in an email to The Courier News. “At this time, a store opening is slated for spring 2023, but understand that construction progress may alter this date.
“The store will employ approximately six to 10 employees, depending on the individual needs of the store,” the message said.
“Anyone interested in joining one of America’s fastest-growing retailers with competitive wages and benefits, world-class training and development and the ability to further their career through our growing organization may apply for available positions online at www.dollargeneral.com/careers.”
Rocky Top City Manager Michael Foster updated the City Council on Dollar General’s progress on the new store during the council’s January meeting, saying he had been told the store could open as early as March.
Work is well underway to repair and renovate the former supermarket site, which has been closed since 2018, to allow the supermarket-size Dollar General store to open, Foster said.
The building’s leaky roof has been repaired, and work is now focused on the interior.
Developer JMB Investments of Knoxville paid $457,000 for the property in early November, and was issued a building permit by the city of Rocky Top for $886,850 in upgrades and improvements to the property on Nov. 22, Foster said. The developer had applied for a sign permit from the city in October.
“They have told us they plan to be open by March, and it will be a full-service grocery store,” Foster said earlier.
“This is something the people of Rocky Top have been wanting for a long time now, and we have been working hard to get that done. Our work has finally paid off.”
Raven Construction of Knoxville is the contractor for the work on the 20,915 square-foot building, Foster said.
“This is the same contractor who built the other Dollar General here, as well as the new Fast Pace medical clinic,” he said.
“This will be very good for Rocky Top.”
Not related to the Dollar General project, the adjacent former Rocky Top Market convenience store next door at 106 Creek St. also has changed hands and is being reopened as a beer and tobacco store.
The Rocky Top City Council, acting as the Beer Board, approved an off-premises beer sales permit for the new Beer and Tobacco store just before last Thursday night’s regular council meeting.
Owners of that store are Minaben B. Patel and Jay Sadhi, according to the beer permit application.
Workers were also doing some remodeling work on that building last week, as well.
The Dollar General Market will bring a supermarket back into the city for the first time since Shop-Rite closed.
A Dollar General Market differs from a regular Dollar General store by its much-larger size and bigger inventory, being stocked as a full grocery store, including fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. Dollar General Markets even have ads listing weekly specials like most supermarkets do.
More information about the Dollar General Markets and their weekly specials may be found online at: dollargeneral.com/market.html
There was a move earlier in 2022 that could have led to reopening the Shop-Rite as a Piggly Wiggly supermarket, but that fell through. The building had been for sale all along.
Donna M. Sharp, former owner of the building and a member of the family who previously operated the supermarket, created a new company called Fresh ‘n Friendly Foods, LLC, in November 2021, which was applying for grant money to reopen the store, according to state and county records and Rocky Top officials.
Some of the money to renew and restock the store would have come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which, according to its website (rd.usda.gov/about-rd/initiatives/healthy-food-financing-initiative), “aims to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize low-income communities.”
But such a grant – meant to establish supermarkets in so-called “food deserts” -- never came through.
“It’s been closed since July 2018,” Foster said of the Shop-Rite, adding that until now, the city had not been able to find anyone willing to open a supermarket in Rocky Top.
The Dollar General Store on Norris Freeway between Main Street and Interstate 75 does offer a limited selection of grocery items, including some fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as some cold and frozen food products, but it is not a full supermarket.