If you live near 21st and Grove in the heart of Northeast Wichita, walked to your refrigerator and you needed just one fresh ingredient in preparation for your evening meal, too bad. The nearest store selling fresh meat and vegetables was 3 miles away.
While 3 miles is an inconvenience for some, it’s nearly impossible for the 20% of households in zip code 67214 without a vehicle. That’s why the recently remodeled Dollar General at 2020 E. 21st Street is being happily received.
Dollar General recently remodeled and upgraded the store to it DG Market format. These stores offer healthier food selections including fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, in addition to the same categories, brands and products offered at other Dollar General stores.
The new location includes several banks of commercial grade refrigeration units with fresh meat, vegetables and fruit. The meat selection included fresh pork, beef and chicken options, including an always useful one-pound roll of 80/20 ground beef. Produce selections included seasonal fruit including grapes, blueberries, apples and oranges. Vegetables included stables like carrot, potatoes and onions plus bagged salad options. Another nice addition was fresh packaged options of cole slaw, potato salad and macaroni salad.
The redesign also expanded the stores selection and quality of frozen food options. Dollar General stores always offered frozen food options, but the redesign added more freezer capacity and expanded the frozen product offerings.
The store is also equipped with a large cooler for fresh milk and dairy products. When we visited, there was only one gallon of milk left. We’re not sure if the cooler still hadn’t been stocked or whether the empty shelves reflected a high level of demand.
We reached out to Dollar General to see if they had plans to convert more stores in the Wichita to DG Markets. So far, we have not received a response, but we will update this story when information is provided.
Dollar General has added fresh produce only — not fresh meat — to five stores in Wichita locations: 1918 E. 13th St, 4011 S. Laura, 4549 E. Pawnee, 2427 W. Pawnee. According to a response from Dollar General Public Relations Dept., the company has fresh produce in 5400 stores across the country, “giving us more individual points of produce distribution than any other U.S. mass retailer or grocer.”
- They’ve expanded the frozen food section and expanded their variety of offerings.
- The milk and dairy cooler was empty, we’re not sure if it hadn’t been stocked yet or whether the emptiness reflects a high demand.
- The meat and produce coolers have pull up and down shades on them.
- They’ve expanded the frozen food section and expanded their variety of offerings.
- The milk and dairy cooler was empty, we’re not sure if it hadn’t been stocked yet or whether the emptiness reflects a high demand.
