HOPE – The town of Hope will have its own full-service grocery store for the first time in more than a decade.
The Dollar General Store at County Road 600N and State Road 9 will be transformed into a DG Market, company spokeswoman Angela Petkovic said.
The new store will provide something those in northeast Bartholomew County residents have long requested — a grocery with an extensive selection of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, Petkovic said.
In order to facilitate the changes, the 10,000-square-foot Dollar General in Hope will be closed from Monday, May 19 until at least Friday, May 23.
Besides putting in the produce and meat sections, the DG Market will also feature a new décor, as well as an expanded party preparation selection, Petkovic said. The same categories, brands and products that have traditionally been offered at Dollar General will still be offered, she said.
While the company’s store at 9260 N. U.S.31 in German Township was recently upgraded with a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, Petkovic says that outlet is not a DG Market because it does not have the fresh meat slated to be included in the remodeled Hope store.
It’s been several years since a full-service grocery store has operated in Hope. Clouse’s IGA and Food Center, which served the town for decades, closed in the mid-1990s, while the Hope Food Mart operated for more than 30 years until it went out of business near the time of the 2008 recession.
For several years, town leaders have discussed the need for a full-service grocery several times both formally and informally. Two candidates who competed for the Ward 2 seat on the Hope Town Council, Nellie Meek and John Walstad, both listed attracting a full-service grocery as a top priorities during last year’s campaign.
Besides those in the Hope area, DG Market officials hope to find customers from the Clifford and Hartsville areas, Community Center of Hope Executive Director Chelsea Warriner said.
She’s hopeful an arrangement regarding fruit and vegetable donations might be arranged between the DG Market and her community center’s food pantry.
"Anything they have left over that they can’t sell anymore may be something we can have access to, so we can get it out to families that need it," Warriner said.
Dollar General, which operates more than 16,000 stores, launched the DG Market concept in 2003 near its Nashville, Tennessee headquarters. The company seeks out underserved communities with smaller full-service grocery stores that allow customers to get in and out quickly with their purchases.
