Dollar General is ramping up its distribution network in a bid to better serve its Midwest stores.
The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based discounter on Tuesday said that construction had started on a one-million-square-foot facility in Janesville, Wisconsin. Once completed, it will be the retailer’s 14th warehouse and is expected to employ more than 550 people.
“This state-of-the-art distribution center will help support our growth throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest,” Todd Vasos, chief executive officer of Dollar General, said in a statement. “I want to thank the city of Janesville, Rock County and the state of Wisconsin for their support of our project. Janesville provides a great location, a strong business environment and a great workforce to draw from to fill the 550 jobs that are anticipated to be created by this new distribution center.”
If all goes according to plan, Dollar General will start hiring in late summer 2016. Operations are anticipated to begin the following December to service more than 1,000 stores in the Upper Midwest, including 122 locations in Wisconsin.
As of October 30, Dollar General operated 12,396 stores in 43 states, selling a wide array of apparel, home goods, seasonal items and more at discounted prices. It plans to have added about 730 new stores by the end of this year and intends to add another 7 percent to its total square footage in 2016.
Wisconsin’s Department of Economic Development has estimated a total of 1,073 jobs will be “positively impacted” by the new facility within five years.
“We are proud that Dollar General selected Wisconsin as the location of its latest distribution center, leveraging our state’s strong economic assets to fulfill its business growth opportunities,” said Mark Hogan, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. “I am thankful to the many local and regional economic development partners who helped secure this project and the good jobs it will bring to Janesville.”
“Dollar General’s decision to choose our community demonstrates that we are business-friendly and provide the quality of life amenities that the company was seeking. We are excited to see the strong boost that this project will give to Janesville’s local economy,” Janesville City Manager Mark Freitag added.
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While Dollar General is bullish on growing its store base after the recent merging of its two biggest rivals (Dollar Tree and Family Dollar), it’s also been busy shrinking its home office. Last month, the company announced that it was laying off about 255 workers at its headquarters in an effort to “proactively improve efficiencies” and cut costs.