Dollar General to Open in Cranford

Dollar General will replace the long-empty storefront once occupied by Drug Fair on South Avenue West in downtown Cranford. The variety store is expected to open in 60 to 90 days.

Pitney Partners LP has signed Dollar General for the 13,600 square feet space recently vacated by Drug Fair, said Mayor David Robinson. Drug Fair closed in the spring after its parent company filed for bankruptcy.

Robinson said that town officials, including Deputy Mayor Mark Smith, former Mayor Michael Plick, who is also the chairman of the Downtown Management Corporation, and Kathleen Prunty, DMC director, have been working for months to attract a mid-size gourmet grocery store.

“We met with brokers and brought store executives through town in an effort to secure a lease for this important space,” said Robinson. “The first meetings took place in March but in the end, it didn’t work out for this location."

The space, along with the adjacent storefront previously occupied by Blockbuster, was home to Pathmark before the new super store was built in the early 1980s.

“We felt it would be an easy transition back to a market," said Robinson. "The township will continue to pursue an in-town grocer and is already looking at other locations."

The Cranford location is one of several former Drug Fair sites that have been leased by Dollar General after the company’s bankruptcy earlier this year. Walgreen’s now operates many of the remaining Drug Fair stores. A new Walgreen’s store opened in Cranford in 2008.

The recent expansion of Dollar General stores is indicative of where the growth is in the retail industry. According to a Retail Next 2009 Report, the greatest increases nationwide are discount and dollar stores, small format grocery stores and neighborhood markets. Conversely, the sharpest declines in retail are department stores, apparel and bookstores.

Plick pointed out that trends couldn’t be ignored.

“The current economy and the desire for convenience are driving the growth of these stores. Cranford is a good and desirable market so we shouldn’t be surprised the fastest growing retailers want to open a store here, ” he said.

“We appreciate that Dollar General will be a new business, investor and employer in our downtown and we think their customers will help the nearby businesses that suffered while the space remained vacant,” said Smith. “In an effort to learn more about this new business, we were pleased to learn that Dollar General stores are very supportive of community organizations and events through their Dollar General Cares program."

Dollar General is not a “dollar” store in the strictest sense. It carries many items that are priced more than a dollar. Some of the name brands sold at the stores are Fisher Price, Campbell’s, Proctor & Gamble, Nabisco, Mattel, General Mills and Kellogg’s.