Dollars and change
Dollar Express stores in South Florida will get the Dollar General name.
Following its recent acquisition of more than 300 Dollar Express stores nationwide, discount retail chain Dollar General has announced it will convert six Dollar Express locations in South Florida to conform with its own brand.
In a statement, Dollar General said the Dollar Express stores will be revamped through an overhaul of floor plans and expanded product offerings. The locations — four of which are in Miami-Dade County, with the other two in Broward — are expected to open by late fall2017, joining Dollar General’s 54 existing stores in the tricounty area.
Dollar General said six to 10 employees will be hired to run each new store.
“We’re going to be able to have that fresh layout. We’re going to have the products that customers know and rely on Dollar General to carry,” company spokeswoman Crystal Ghassemi said. “We’re really looking forward to being able to bring our brand into these locations.”
The stores slated for conversion are at:
1801N. Federal Highway, Hollywood
120 S. Federal Highway, Dania 3105NW62nd St., Miami
16403 SW 312th St., Homestead
401NE125th St., Miami
19922 NW Second Ave., Miami Gardens
Dollar Express was formed in November 2015 to satisfy a Federal Trade Commission stipulation on Dollar Tree Inc.’s purchase of Family Dollar Stores. This past April, Dollar General reached an agreement to purchase all 323 of Dollar Express’s locations for an undisclosed amount.
According to Ghassemi, the purchase constitutes half of Dollar General’s overall expansion plan for the 2017 fiscal year. In addition to its 323 recently-acquired stores, she said the company hopes to open 1,000 new locations across the 44 states in which it operates.
While demographics play a role in the expansion process, Ghassemi said they are not the only factor. In addition to an area’s cultural and financial demography, she said thecompany examines the presence of competitors, traffic patterns and potential community support.
“It’s not just something that we haphazardly look at,” Ghassemi said. “South Florida— and all of Florida, really —is a great market for Dollar General.”
The company’s track record appear to support that statement. Within the last five years, Dollar General has opened three stores in Broward County, 12 in Miami-Dade County and seven in Palm Beach County.