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LANDRUM–The old saying “out with the old and in with the new” will soon apply to Landrum’s Dollar General Store. 

It’s going to be replaced with the first Dollar General Plus store in the area. Unlike Landrum’s current Dollar General store, which is in a shopping center, the new store will be a larger, stand-alone building with a more elaborate exterior, cathedral ceilings and wider aisles on the interior.

“It’s just a whole different concept,” says Bill Robinson, a local real-estate developer. “It’s very attractive and I think it’s going to be very well received in the marketplace.”

Robinson is the owner of Keystone Self Storage in Landrum. He bought about 10 acres of land on East Rutherford St. east of downtown and sold two acres of it to Dollar General, which is building the new store. Robinson plans to buy the building and lease it back to Dollar General, a common practice with the company. 

“I like what they do and how they do it,” says Robinson, who owns several other Dollar General stores. “I think it’s a great value for the public and it’s been a profitable relationship.”

In addition to general merchandise, the new Dollar General Plus will carry fresh fruits and vegetables. Robinson says customers will also be able to get in and out more quickly than at a larger chain grocery store.

“It has all the accommodations that are modern to today’s marketplace, meaning you pull right up, you walk in the door, everything’s right in front of you,” he says. 

Robinson hopes to open the new store in August with the current Dollar General closing around the same time. Dollar General has over 19,000 stores in the US with plans to have one within five miles of every person in the country.