Rapidly expanding discount store building 3 new Tri-Cities locations

Discount retailer Dollar General is opening three stores in the Tri-Cities region as part of its rapid growth plan throughout Washington.

A Benton City store is nearing completion, and construction on a store in Burbank recently broke ground. A third is proposed in Pasco.

Along with grocery items, the store carries basic household goods such as cleaning supplies, kitchen products, basic clothing and seasonal items.

A spokesperson for the the Oregon Street Group development company that owns the land for the proposed Pasco Dollar General said the company has about 30 days left of due diligence work before closing on the deal.

The property at the corner of East Lewis Street and Franklin Avenue just west of Robinson Elementary School currently is a vacant lot.

“Dollar General saw an opportunity on the east side that largely has been ignored by national retailers,” said Oregon Street Group spokesperson who did not want to be named.

In Burbank, the $1.1 million Dollar General is being built on land that was purchased from the Port of Walla Walla earlier this year by Simon CRE for $248,000, according to Walla Walla County property records.

Simon CRE is a commercial real estate development company based in Arizona that develops property for clients.

The Burbank store is scheduled to be finished by summer, a Dollar General spokesperson told the Herald.

Collaborative Construction Solutions based in Battle Ground is building the 9,100-square-foot store at 379 Fifth Ave., that’s part of the port’s Burbank Business Park.

The construction company has been the contractor for Dollar General stores throughout the state including in Benton City, and posted a call out for bids for the Pasco project.

The Benton City store is on half of a 3 acre lot that Simon CRE bought last November at 210 Second St. from private owners. The other 1.5 acres also are planned for commercial development.

A company spokesperson could not be reached about those plans.

The Dollar General spokesperson said that each store will employ six to 10 employees.

Washington’s first Dollar General opened just a year ago in Cathlamet — a tiny town along the Columbia River about 30 miles west of Longview.

The chain now has about a dozen stores that have either opened or are under construction throughout the state in small towns such as Connell, Granger, Zillah and Naches.

The Connell store about a 30 miles north of Pasco opened late last year, and the company also is working on plans to build in Mattawa.

Dollar General targeted Washington has part of its larger growth strategy and built about 1,000 stores in the past year.

The company said in late April that it plans to hire 20,000 people this spring to fill jobs at its nearly 17,300 stores across the U.S.