Morgan, Minn., a city of about 800 people, has two restaurants, several churches, a grain elevator and one small grocery store that sells rib-eye steaks that, according to the mayor, “are the best around.”
The mayor, Jerry Huiras, 76, is protective of the lone grocery, a family business that dates back many generations and operates in a downtown dotted with empty storefronts. So when he got wind in late 2020 that Dollar General was planning to open a store near the town limits, and that this fast-growing national discount chain was known for undercutting local grocers with its low prices, Mr. Huiras vowed to prevent that outcome in Morgan.
Armed with a petition signed by more than a hundred people, Mr. Huiras was direct in addressing the developer seeking zoning approval to build the Dollar General. “We just don’t want your store,” Mr. Huiras, a Republican, recalled telling him.
Morgan is part of a movement of municipalities across the United States that have pushed back against the dollar store industry’s rapid growth during the pandemic.
[Judging by our county, that answer is “no.” One brand is putting a store in not 200 yds down the street from where another brand’s store has been for years and where they have one of their own stores not 2 miles from that location on the same road. They’re like Tribbles around here. ~ Beege]
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