Dollar General employees, their families and local and state officials celebrated the official grand opening of the company’s 16th distribution center in Longview, Texas, on July 20.
At full capacity, the state-of-the-art Longview facility is expected to employ more than 400 people and support approximately 1,000 Dollar General stores.
“Today marks another growth milestone for Dollar General in the great state of Texas as we celebrate the grand opening of our Longview distribution center alongside employees, their families and local and state officials,” said Todd Vasos, CEO of Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. “We are proud to have a partnership with the state of Texas spanning more than four decades after opening our first store in the state in 1977.
“We are tremendously thankful for the support from Gov. Greg Abbott, Longview Mayor Andy Mack, Judge Bill Stoudt and the Longview Economic and Community Development throughout the progression of this project,” Vasos added. “We look forward to being a longstanding business partner in the Longview community.”
Dollar General now has two distribution centers in Texas as well as more than 1,500 stores that employ more than 13,000 Texans.
The company announced plans to open its second Texas distribution center in December 2017 and began shipping from the Longview facility in early 2019.
“The Texas economy continues to thrive because of investments like this one from Dollar General,” says Gov. Abbott. “With the opening of its second distribution center in Texas, Dollar General is creating hundreds of new jobs in Longview and growing its already expansive footprint in the Lone Star State. The state of Texas is grateful for this partnership and will continue to foster an economic environment that allows Texas employers and workers to flourish.”
“The main theme of Dollar General’s mission statement is Serving Others. That same spirit is shared by the citizens of Longview and East Texas and that will ensure the success of this project for Dollar General and Longview for many years to come,” says Wayne Mansfield, president and CEO of the Longview Economic Development Corp. “The impact of the project goes beyond just the economics. It also touches the intrinsic values that are commonly displayed by our citizens and Dollar General. We are proud to welcome Dollar General to our community and to our family.”
Longview Mayor Andy Mack says, “Dollar General’s investment in Longview is the exactly the type of project we look for—a good company bringing hundreds of quality jobs and making itself a valuable partner for our city, county and region. This is the reason we’ve built business parks. This is the reason we’ve invested in our roads, water and other infrastructure. For companies like Dollar General, my message is simple. Longview is open for business.”
Dollar General partnered with Clayco as the project’s official general contractor, Leo A. Daly as the architectural engineering firm and Elan Design as the civil engineering firm to design and build the 1 million-s.f. facility.
Dollar General’s 15 additional distribution centers are located in Alachua, Florida; Ardmore, Oklahoma; Bessemer, Alabama; Bethel, Pennsylvania; Fulton, Missouri; Indianola, Mississippi; Jackson, Georgia; Janesville, Wisconsin; Jonesville, South Carolina; Lebec, California; Marion, Indiana; San Antonio, Texas; Scottsville, Kentucky; South Boston, Virginia; and Zanesville, Ohio.
The company’s 17th distribution center currently is under construction in Amsterdam, New York.
Dollar General stores carry food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, housewares and seasonal items “at everyday low prices in convenient neighborhood locations.” Dollar General operated 15,597 stores in 44 states as of May 3.
