A company from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin was on the possible future Dollar General store site (just west of the closed Harbor Light Restaurant) last week conducting boring samples. A group from Appleton, Wisconsin is in charge of the development. Grand Marais City Council will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 8 to discuss Dollar General’s potential move to the city. The meeting is open to the public.
Located at 100 Mission Road, Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dollar General’s apparent move to Grand Marais is generating quite a bit of conversation in the community, with some in favor, and many against the move of a large discount business into a small community.
Speaking on behalf of the corporation on Feb. 3, Dan McDonald, who is in charge of the possible move to Grand Marais, said, “We haven’t made any decisions yet. This project is in the ‘due diligence’ phase for us. We are still interested in the site, it looks like it will work for us, but we want to make sure it meets all of the criteria before we give it the green light.”
Should the company decide to build, McDonald said it would be a 9,000-square-foot freestanding building with approximately 7,300 square feet of floor space.
“Right now, if approved, the store is slated to be built in May, but it could happen earlier than that. We will keep you [the News-Herald] informed.” Community feedback on proposal
Jim Boyd, executive director for the Cook County Chamber of Commerce and the Grand Marais Planning Commission scheduled a meeting to give the public an opportunity to “discuss the possible implications of Dollar General on Cook County’s business climate.”
The Grand Marais Planning Commission convened at 4 p.m. on February 3 and opened a 30-minute session for the public to voice thoughts about Dollar General.
Tim Kennedy, who chairs the commission, asked for statements to be no longer than two minutes. He added, “I know there is a lot of concern about the proposal to build this store.” However, he added, “Our zoning ordinances place little authority for us to regulate use of this land as long as they meet them.”
Twenty-one people spoke, only one in favor of seeing the business come to town. Most were worried about the precedent of seeing a corporate “big box” store come and what that would mean if more came— especially how that would change the town’s aesthetics and business climate as smaller mom and pop shops would be driven out.
Arvis Thompson asked, “How do you stop this business or the next one that might be coming?”
Todd Miller, a planning commission board member, said he would answer questions after the public spoke.
Lisa Gergets and her husband are relatively new to the area. The couple work online at home in a consulting business. She said, “Once the door opens, it will set a precedent,” for other big box stores like Walmart to move in.”
Gergets said in other communities they have lived in, when stores such as Dollar General located in them, the towns suffered because small businesses closed. She started a petition on www.change.org in opposition to Dollar General’s move to Grand Marais and in 24 hours there were 675 electronic signatures on it. At press time there were 894.
Anna Hamilton said she appreciated Gergets’ position, adding that the county needed more good paying jobs and affordable housing. “My main concern is what is this going to do to business like Johnson’s, I.G.A., the pharmacies. They can’t compete with these discount stores.”
Daniel Drews asked how the city could change its ordinances to make sure that if a building were going to be built it would have to meet certain standards that would fit the area. He suggested the planning commission look at other cities to see how they have written their ordinances.
Heather Wicklander took a different perspective. She said most stores in town had their “niche” and Dollar General wouldn’t be taking business away from them. “We need competition and this will bring it,” she said. She also added that 70 percent of the people on Gergets’ petition weren’t local residents.
Jerri Persons said Grand Marais might want to keep the image of “Coolest Small Town in America” going and that adding a Dollar General would subtract from that message. “There’s not a lack of employment here. It’s already hard to find workers,” she said, wondering where Dollar General was going to get its staff when the community already had to bring in hundreds of foreign workers each year to fill job openings.
“I’m not sure how you change ordinances,” said Nina Simonowicz, adding that Grand Marais already has several franchises like Dairy Queen, Subway and Best Western. “What do other small towns do?” she asked, to keep some businesses out and allow others in.
“What is best for all of us?” questioned Beth Benson, a local minister. “Is there a way to slow this down to take a longer look at it?”
Jennifer Stoltz said a Dollar General “wasn’t my vision for Grand Marais.” If built the store would be next to her house. “My concern is, if it doesn’t make it and it closes, then what?”
Eric Humphrey said, “I am deeply concerned for a lot of reasons. …Large corporations are designed to suck money out of communities which goes to their shareholders. It’s a slippery slope once we go down here.”
Water run-off, lights, signage, and the appearance of the building all worried Mike Carlson who echoed much of what Hal Greenwood, a planning commission board member had said earlier in the meeting, getting up from his chair to speak in front of the other commissioners as a citizen.
Kathy Rice said she was opposed to Dollar General, adding she and her husband shopped locally to support the business owners and workers.
“Alarmed,” said Jennifer Shoals, saying Dollar General was going to locate at the gateway to town. “Is this what we want people to see when they are coming into Grand Marais?”
Jean Spry, general manager of Joynes Department Store, said Dollar General doesn’t build its buildings or buy the land. In this case, a developer from Appleton, Wisconsin will do that and lease it to Dollar General.
Someone asked if the city council could put a moratorium on the project, and Todd Miller said, “It could be done but they [Dollar General] could pull the permit between now and then.”
“The rubber meets the road at the city council meeting next Wednesday,” Miller said.
Tim Kennedy said the concerns brought up at the planning meeting would be forwarded to the city council, which will meet Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. This discussion will also be the starting point for reviewing the city’s building ordinances, he said, asking the more than 50 people in attendance to come back for that meeting.
Cook County Chamber Executive Director Jim Boyd said, “Although a limited amount of public comment is built into the agenda, city officials have given assurances that extended discussion of the Dollar General topic will be accommodated if a significant number of people attend the meeting.
“The city council has final authority for what happens with regard to Dollar General’s efforts to build a Grand Marais store,” said Boyd.
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