Do not let the name fool you. This is not a "Dollar Store" where you will find the majority of items at $1.00 or less. Prices on many items are right in line with the normal price you find at places like Target, Walmart and Big Lots. The vast majority of the items that are non-food are from China. For some items this may not be a factor, but for others you will notice the quality is not great. Typically one can learn to either adapt to items of lesser quality or avoid purchasing items where quality is important until you can get to a store that carries a higher quality selection of items you are interested in.
As far as the food items at this location... The "fresh meats" are ones that are packaged in mass quantities. No butchers working in the back preparing the meat items for sale and packaging them onsite. All the ground beef, steaks, chicken, etc is prepared and processed at a large packing facility and then full pallets of the items are shipped to a Dollar General distribution center where they are broken down from full pallets of each item to case quantities. The individual stores place orders based on sales history and then boxes (cases) of each meat item is received at the individual store and the meat shelves are stocked from these bulk case shipments. There is a red colorant added to the meats to give them a more appetizing appearance. Be sure to check the dates very closely as the appearance may look really good when in fact it may be beyond it's shelf-life. I know first hand from almost purchasing ground beef that was 6 days past the "sell by" date on the package. Fortunately I felt compelled to check the date because the ground beef looked like it had the artificial color enhancement.
There was an instance when I needed a box to ship an item and I asked an employee if I could have one. I was directed to the freezer section where an employee was stocking frozen foods. While waiting for him to finish the task he was doing I noticed that he was not rotating the stock. The new shipments are supposed to go to the back and the other is supposed to be moved to the front to help in the selling of items still in date with items in the back that will still be good when they are sold. How it was stocked the oldest items would remain to the back and could potentially stay at the back until some unknown period of time possibly weeks or months past the "sell by" date. The interesting fact was there was a yellow paper inside the box I was given that explained the importance of rotating stock as well as how to do it properly. I guess that bright yellow paper with black bold type was not easily viewable to the stocking crew.
Overall, there are ok items like: milk, bread, paper plates, paper towels, napkins, bottled water, boxed dry goods like Rice-A-Roni and some canned goods; just remember with any food items be sure to inspect the packaging for broken seals, glass jars for "popped tops" and check those "sell by" dates always. The alternative could prove to be rather disgusting.
With all the time it took for the "remodeling" of this location from The Green Frog Market to the Dollar General Market I expected to see a really nice interior including smooth floors etc. I was very surprised that it was far from looking really nice. It took longer to remodel this location than how long it took to build the Dollar General Market on Roberts Ln from an old business lot to a totally new building. How does it take so much longer to remodel a store half assed than to build an entire newly constructed location ? It seems they should've demolished the existing building and then built a new one to suit their needs better at the Bernard and Alta Vista location.
The store on Bernard and Alta Vista looks like they only spent 2 weeks remodeling it. The floors are awful. Cracks in the foundation that the shopping carts catch in,if not careful. The first time I went in after a week of being open I was very disappointed. The selection of items is not like a normal grocery store. Some items may only be available in a generic. Someo items in generic are ok. Like mustard for me is not ok. For the cost I will spend a few cents more for the Frenches mustard. The generic has an opening on the spout that is too large causing a very excessive amount of mustard to shoot out with only the slightest of pressure to squeeze product out. The old adage " You get what you pay for" may apply here. read more