Post updated at 4:44 p.m. Monday, March 18:
The Family Dollar-Dollar Tree location in North Lawrence is set to close next month.
The Associated Press reported Friday that Dollar Tree plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year and nearly 400 more over the next few years.
It was not immediately clear how many employees would lose their jobs as a result of the Lawrence store’s closure. Multiple calls to try to speak to a store manager went unanswered Monday afternoon, but an employee said the store’s last day would be April 13. Items at the store are being sold for half price.
The closure will leave just one store where people can buy general groceries in North Lawrence, though Sunflower Provisions opened at 100 Riverfront Road this month, offering “locally sourced and artisanal grocery and gourmet items,” according to its Facebook page.
Ted Boyle, president of the North Lawrence Improvement Association, said many residents already preferred the nearby Dollar General, which has been there for several years. Family Dollar-Dollar Tree in the Interstate 70 Business Center has only been open for about a year or so, he estimated.
Boyle said Dollar General tends to be busier, and as long as it’s still around, that’s “better than no grocery store.”
Boyle said the NLIA and local business owners had been soliciting grocery stores to locate on the land behind Johnny’s Tavern near Second and Locust streets. That effort started before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and it has stalled for the past couple of years.
He said they’re hoping for a 30,000- to 35,000-square-foot store that could also serve Jefferson and Leavenworth counties, East Lawrence, and the Pinkney and Old West Lawrence neighborhoods in addition to North Lawrence.
The city is now closing the sanctioned camp for people experiencing homelessness that has been located in that area, and other nearby camps will soon be closed as well.
“We’ll get busy on it as the city gets that cleaned up back there,” Boyle said.
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Lawrence Lowdown is a feature on developments around town. Have a tip? Let us know.
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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