Site preparation work underway in Port Carbon for new Dollar General

Ron Devlin, Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.
·2 min read

Feb. 1—PORT CARBON — Site preparation work has begun on a Dollar General store on Pottsville Street near the Francis E. Lubinsky Playground.

On Tuesday, heavy equipment was removing a concrete slab on a tract once occupied by Christopher Trucking, of Pottsville.

Dollar General will build a 10,753-square-foot store on the property, according to plans on file in the Schuylkill County Planning and Zoning office.

The Tennessee-based company has a large footprint in Schuylkill County, with more than 20 stores.

In an email response, Dollar General said that it is finalizing the due diligence phase for the new store in Port Carbon.

Dollar General will release more details on the project in the coming weeks, the company said in its response.

Miller Brothers Construction Inc. moved equipment onto the Port Carbon site this week.

The Schuylkill Haven-based firm has built the newer Dollar General stores in the county.

In August, Miller Brothers filed plans for the project with county planners on behalf of JLM Real Estate Investments LLC, a Schuylkill Haven concern. The county processes planning issues for the Borough of Port Carbon.

The Schuylkill County Planning Commission approved the plans when it met on Dec. 14.

Last week, the Schuylkill County commissioners gave conditional approval to a land development plan for the Port Carbon store.

Being built on 6 acres near the Port Carbon-Mechanicsville borough line, the new store will be the same size as the one in Wayne Twp., near Friedensburg.

Based on demographics and traffic patterns, Dollar General tends to locate its stores in underserved areas. About 75% of its stores are in areas with populations less than 20,000, a spokesperson said.

The stores' line of products includes groceries, household items, cleaning supplies, beauty products and seasonal clothing.

A distribution center in the Highridge Business Park in Cass Twp. that opened in 2019 supplies local stores with frozen foods.

The Dollar General Store off Route 209 in Brockton is the only grocery and convenience store between Port Carbon and Tamaqua, a distance of about 13 miles.

Dollar General employs about 158,000 people at more than 18,000 stores in 47 states.

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007