WALTON, Ky. — Dollar General opened its Northern Kentucky distribution center Tuesday, bringing 300 distribution and private-fleet jobs to the community.
The 630,000-s.f. warehouse represents a $65 million investment. At full capacity, the dry-goods distribution center will directly employ 250 people and generate 50 private-fleet jobs as its operations support more than 800 Dollar General stores across multiple states.
Dollar General’s roots trace to 1939 when Scottsville, Kentucky-based J.L. and Cal Turner opened J.L. Turner and Son Wholesale with an initial investment of $5,000 each. Their first Dollar General store opened in Springfield, Kentucky, in 1955, and the concept was simple – no item in the store would cost more than one dollar. The idea became successful and other stores they owned were quickly converted from wholesale to retail. Today the company, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, operates more than 17,400 stores in 46 states and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DG.
In Kentucky, Dollar General’s presence now includes two distribution centers – the other being in Scottsville – as well as nearly 640 stores and a growing private fleet in Walton that collectively employ approximately 6,000 Kentuckians. The company is also in the final construction phases on a third distribution center, a 160,000-s.f. DG Fresh facility in Bowling Green.
As a target industry for the state, the logistics and distribution sector employs nearly 80,000 people at 590 facilities across Kentucky. Because of online ordering throughout the pandemic, warehouses and shippers saw surging demand and expansion opportunities. In the past 12 months, distribution and logistics companies committed to creating nearly 2,000 full-time, Kentucky-resident jobs over the coming years with 34 facility expansions and new-location projects statewide. Those projects promise to bring nearly $285 million in private-sector investment to the commonwealth.
Kentucky’s ideal geographic location continues to help attract distribution and logistics facilities. Within a day’s drive of Kentucky – about 600 miles – logistics providers can reach two-thirds of the U.S. population and income. Dollar General’s newly opened distribution center builds on the commonwealth’s recent economic momentum.
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