Santa Rosa County social media has been abuzz this week with speculation that, as one Facebook poster put it, "yet another" Dollar General store was being built in East Milton.
The word on the street turned out to be solid. Dollar General #24780 is presently under construction at 4154 Ward Basin Road, near the intersection of Hickory Hammock Road.
Though efforts to reach Dollar General media representatives were unsuccessful, the company has made it clear through its actions that it considers Santa Rosa County a key demographic. The Ward Basin Road location will be the 16th Dollar General or DG Market (a subsidiary) to open in the county, and roughly the eighth in the Milton/Pace area.
It is being built less than four miles from another Dollar General store on State Road 87.
More:'East Milton is really going to be your new Pace.' Development booming along Hwy 87 corridor.
Why is Dollar General doing so well?
But it isn't just in Northwest Florida where Dollar General stores are seemingly popping up on every corner.
The Dollar Store business model, emulated by competitors like Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, offers discount prices and a Walmart-like selection of multiple products under one roof, but provides a shopping opportunity in an almost convenience-store sized showroom.
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This year the company announced plans to invest $2 billion to build an additional 1,050 new stores. The year before $1.6 billion had been spent to open 1,039 stores. Sales growth for the time period was estimated at a healthy 3 to 3.5%
An article written for Placerai blogspot, which analyzes business, was titled "2023: The Year of the Discount Store."
"The segment is on a decided upswing as it continues to attract new and returning customers with its attractive retail and grocery options," the website article said. "With a shift in how people shop, discount and dollar stores can hope to continue thriving into 2023."
Dollar General has also announced plans to invest $100 million in "incremental labor hours" to hire enough workers to keep store shelves stocked, something that has been addressed as a major company failing.
"We believe our customers and communities will need us even more as we move through 2023," Dollar General CEO said in an earnings call published on the Insider Monkey website.
East Milton growth along State Road 87
The new store is also the latest sign of booming growth along the State Road 87 corridor in East Milton.
"East Milton is really starting to develop," said Shannon Ogletree, the county's economic development director. "There's tons of growth out there in that area."
Nothing tells the story of the potential for more growth than the planned installation of a traffic light at the intersection of State Road 87 and Interstate 10. Santa Rosa County Commissioner Kerry Smith said the signal should be installed within the next couple of weeks.
Ogletree said the traffic light is needed now, but will provide a more important future function. The county's Milton Interchange Park will occupy just under 200 acres in an area to the immediate north of the Northwest Florida Industrial Park at I-10, and even as preliminary work is getting underway to construct roads and put down infrastructure, "it's basically sold out," Ogletree said.
The county is now in preliminary discussions with the U.S. Navy to secure a land swap that would provide it 642 more acres of East Milton real estate for further industrial development near the intersection of I-10 and SR 87.
"We're working with the Navy. They realize the growth of the county and I need more property for development," Ogletree said.
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As its part of the land swap bargain, the county has proposed an equal land exchange in which it would build the Navy another training field in another location.
"We'd provide them a great field for future helicopter training," Ogletree said.
The industrial growth is bringing people and jobs to the area, and not only is residential development booming in East Milton, retail development is also starting to pick up.
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Retail along State Road 87
The Kruse Group has begun construction on a SR 87 parcel that extends north in a triangular shape from its southern tip at Nichols Lake Road, not far from Southern Raceway.
Plans call for a central building to be constructed at the Kruse parcel for a 43,000-square-foot grocery store andan adjacent 4,875-square-foot retail building. The plan shows two strip-mall style retail buildings, estimated at 16,250 square feet and 16,900 square feet respectively, on either side of the grocery store.
Ogletree said he had not heard that a tenant had been found to occupy the grocery store building.
Prior to approving rezoning to allow The Kruse Group to build, county officials labeled the site "an ideal location to serve the surrounding community."
It's All About Me LLC has received approval to rezone 41 acres of land across SR 87 from the retail center site for an as-yet-to-be determined commercial development. The acreage fronts 87 but also bumps up against Fortune Road to the north and Hickory Hammock Road to the south.
