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Sep. 25—PORT CARBON — One of Schuylkill County's largest Dollar General stores is expected to open in the next two weeks, according to its builder, Miller Bros. Construction Inc. in Schuylkill Haven.
Darrin Rapali, real estate project director at Miller Bros., said construction on the 10,600-square-foot store has been completed.
"We'll turn the building over to Dollar General late this week or early next week," Rapali said Monday. "Then, Dollar General will install the shelving and stock the store."
Normally, he said, that process takes seven to 10 days.
Miller Bros. began construction in spring on the store, which is on Pottsville Street next to the Francis E. Lubinsky Playground.
It is the same size as the Dollar General on Route 443 in Wayne Twp., which opened last year.
The pre-engineered steel building, a DG Plus design, is larger than the company's standard 9,100-square-foot stores, Rapali said.
Patrick Higgins, director of retail development with with MBC Development, said Dollar General recently opened a DG Market store in Wyomissing, Berks County.
The market store concept is Dollar General's largest and features fresh produce and more refrigeration for frozen foods. Currently, there are none planned in Schuylkill County.
A Republican Herald story found there were 21 Dollar General stores in Schuylkill County as of September 2022.
JLM Real Estate Investments LLC, a Miller Bros. company, has been building stores and leasing them to Dollar General for about a dozen years, Rapali said.
At last count, he said, the company has leased about 150 stores to Dollar General in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey.
Based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dollar General operates around 18,000 stores in the U.S. and Mexico.
Most Dollar Generals have a similar design and merchandise display.
Focusing on rural and underserved areas, about 75% of the stores are built in areas with populations of under 20,000.
Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007