Dollar General opens for business in Colman

By Brenda Wade Schmidt; originally appeared in the Moody County Enterprise, 9/1/21; reprinted with permission.

Dollar General has opened its doors in Colman, SD, bringing a discount variety store to the community.

The store opened August 23 but has limited hours until additional help can be hired.

Dollar General, which is newly built, sells snacks, groceries, cleaning supplies, decorations, cards, shampoo, housewares, clothes, diapers and more. It is the second store in Moody County, the first being in Flandreau.

Colman, which has a convenience store and hardware store, hasn’t had a grocery store in many years. The store also serves people traveling on South Dakota Highway 34 to the lakes.

The store means a lot to Colman shoppers looking for convenience, said Mark Tuttle, a resident.

“It’s a nice store,” he said while shopping. “It helps people out a lot.”

William Herrera, assistant manager, said people are still finding out that the store is open and there are a few items yet to see on the shelves as the store ramps up its business.

“Some people don’t even know we’re open yet,” he said.

Dollar General is also hiring.

“We’re hoping we’ll be able to hire more people,” Herrera said.

In a press release from Dollar General headquarters in Goodlettsville, TN, senior vice president of real estate and store development, Dan Nieser, said, “At Dollar General, we believe the addition of each new store provides positive economic growth for the communities we proudly serve, and the addition of our new Colman store highlights our commitment to deliver a pleasant shopping experience that includes great prices on quality products in a convenient location. We look forward to welcoming customers to our new store and hope they will enjoy shopping at our new location.”

To commemorate the opening of DG’s new Colman location, Dollar General plans to donate 100 new books to a nearby elementary school to benefit students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. Through the partnership with the Kellogg Company, the donation will be part of a planned donation of more than 100,000 books across the country to celebrate new DG store openings.

Furthermore, DG strives to be a good neighbor and is committed to the communities it proudly calls home, evidenced by unwavering support of literacy and education initiatives through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The addition of the Colman store opens the opportunity for schools, nonprofit organizations and libraries within a 15-mile radius of the store to apply for Dollar General Literacy Foundation grants.

Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $197 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 14 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education. For more information about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and its grant programs, visit www.dgliteracy.com.