PAINESVILLE, Ohio — The closure of at least one major pharmacy in Painesville prompted city leaders to enact a 12-month moratorium on new discount dollar stores in the city to prevent those kinds of stores from moving in.
As city manager Doug Lewis points out, there are already three dollar stores within just a few miles of one another.
"We have had attempts of some of the discount stores trying to open up another store within the city, and because it wasn't zoned properly, we were able to redirect them to a different location," Lewis said.
Lewis told News 5 that part of the reason for the moratorium comes as the city learned that at least one major pharmacy is slated to close in the near future.
"They really do take away from some of our local businesses and make it more difficult for us to attract grocery stores and things of that nature that we really do need in Downtown Painesville," Lewis said.
How cities shape their own business landscape is increasingly a focus for Northeast Ohio community leaders. On the other side of town, in Brook Park, officials are saying no to more car washes.
Painesville is in the midst of a multi-million dollar collection of developments, and Lewis said it's important that what comes into the city matches with its future vision.
In March, the city of Canton enacted a similar moratorium after it noticed 14 stores within two miles of each other.
Earlier this year, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree closed dozens of locations across Ohio, including seven in Northeast Ohio.
RELATED: Dollar Tree, Family Dollar to close 35 stores across Ohio this week. Here's the list.
In a statement to News 5, a spokesperson with Dollar General said:
With approximately 75 percent of Americans within five miles of a DG store, thousands of customers across the country rely on us for convenient and affordable access to everyday household essentials.
We believe restrictive measures harm communities by limiting customer choice, convenience and affordability, particularly in inflationary times, and forcing customers to travel farther and/or spend more to access basic household and food items. Our mission of Serving Others and our intense customer focus differentiate Dollar General from other seemingly similar retailers, something we are able to demonstrate when provided the opportunity to engage with government and community leaders.
Additionally, we believe the addition of each new store provides positive benefits including additional access to affordable products for customers; the creation of new jobs for local residents and career development opportunities for our employees; the generation of additional tax revenue for the City; and the ability for local nonprofits, schools and libraries to apply for literacy and education grants through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
At Dollar General, we care about and are invested in the health of our communities. While not a grocery store, every Dollar General store offers components of a nutritious meal including canned and frozen vegetables, canned fruits, proteins, grains, dairy, and more. We also currently offer fresh fruits and vegetables in more than 5,400 DG stores, giving us more individual points of produce distribution than any other U.S. mass retailer or grocer.
We also address food insecurity through our nationwide Feeding America partnership, which includes more than $3 million in donations and in-kind donations equal to more than 24 million meals since 2021.
No one was available to comment from Dollar Tree/Family Dollar.
Going forward, city leaders said they hope to study the impact of these kinds of discount stores and if any changes should be made to how and where they’re built.
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard or on Facebook Clay LePard News 5.
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