Dollar General store opens; Dollar Tree comes next

A Dollar General store opened recently at 63741 Hwy. 93, just south of Valley Bank in Ronan. Meanwhile, a Dollar Tree is under construction at 143 Ridgewater Dr. in Polson, and is advertising for sales associates.

These two discount stores add their discount offerings to those available at the Family Dollar Store that opened a few years ago on Dayton Street in Ronan.

The first Dollar General opened June 1, 1955 in Springfield, Ky. Its hook was that no item in the store would cost more than one dollar. Today, the company has more than 19,000 stores in 48 states.

The corporation expanded into Montana last fall, opening a store in Columbia Falls. “Our expansion in the Treasure State will complete our presence throughout the lower 48,” said Steve Deckard, Dollar General’s executive vice president of growth and emerging markets, at the time.

Since then, the Dollar General footprint has expanded to Libby, Eureka, Thompson Falls and Victor.

Dollar Tree, a brand established in 1994, is the parent company of Family Dollar, which it acquired in 2015. In some communities, the two are blended in “combo stores,” and offer same-day deliveries.

Dollar Tree has locations in Bozeman, Helena, Great Falls, Missoula and Whitefish, while Family Dollar has locations in Three Forks and Shelby, in addition to the Ronan store.

Similar to Walmart, the discount stores each bring a team of attorneys, architects and engineers to new store sites to lay the groundwork before construction begins, according to a City of Polson source.