You could be shopping in a new Dollar General store in Wadena by the end of 2020 following recent approval at a Wadena City Council meeting.
Wadena City Council members during the regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 8, approved the sale of lots in the Wadena Business Park to investors planning to construct a Dollar General. The sale included lots 1, 2, 3, and the north 52 feet of Lot 4, Block 2, in the now under development business park on Hwy 71 south of Wadena. The business will have about 421 feet of frontage on Hwy 71.
The investors, The Overland Group, LLC, negotiated with the city following a recommendation by the Wadena Development Authority. Following some changes to restrictions, the group came to an agreement with a purchase price of $125,000. If the buyer does purchase the property, according to this contract, they must construct a store there by Dec. 31, 2020. The purchase and sale contract had to be complete Thursday, Oct. 10 or the agreement was null and void.
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Requests for comment on the purchase were not returned by Overland Group or Dollar General.
Some of the negotiations included decreasing restrictions on businesses that could construct near the site of the Dollar General. There are five lots within the business park that will have restrictions on them. Some of those restrictions are to keep other dollar stores and convenience stores from going in nearby. It also restricts adult book or video stores. Further restrictions include use that includes fire, explosives, or other hazards among a list of others.
“This is probably the 17th draft of the purchase agreement,” Wadena Economic Development director Dean Uselman said of the latest agreement.
After presenting this information to council members, Uselman shared he didn’t feel these restrictions would limit their ability to find businesses for the surrounding sites. He was also pleased to announce that this was the first business that was a Buxton Group match. In 2017, the Wadena Economic Development Authority partnered with the Buxton Group, a nationwide developer that has worked with more than 750 cities of all sizes on developing retail recruitment strategies. The business services firm says it can identify items that current retailers could be selling in their store and suggest new businesses that may do well in Wadena.
Dollar General stores have been popping up in the region including stores in Pillager, Motley, Staples, New York Mills, Henning, Sebeka, Menahga, Parkers Prairie and Eagle Bend. Wadena does have a Dollar Tree store near Walmart, and the Family Dollar store closed at the end of 2018.
Dollar General lists the following facts about their business on their website.
$25.6 billion in sales in fiscal 2018
15,836 retail locations as of Aug. 2, 2019
Approximately 7,300 square-foot stores
10,000 - 12,000 total stock keeping units (SKUs) per store
16 distribution centers
Approximately 135,000 employees
