Family Dollar and Dollar General appear to be betting on new markets in the Arlington area.
Plans are under review by the St. Johns River Water Management District for development of a Family Dollar on an acre at 1612 St. Johns Bluff Road N., at northwest Monument and St. Johns Bluff roads.
Developer Twin Rivers Capital LLC of Charleston, S.C., proposes the project through Monument Retail LLC. The site is a former gas station.
A Dollar General is planned at 7700 Merrill Road, the former BuddyFreddys buffet restaurant site. Millennium Venture Group Inc. of Denver bought the 1.5-acre site at Merrill Road and Wedgefield Boulevard on July 3.
Property records show Millennium Venture bought the property for $500,000 from SBI Leasing Inc.
The City approved a permit last week for The Hatch Group LLC to put up a sign at the site for “Coming Soon, Dollar General.”
The Family Dollar website, www.familydollar.com, shows 43 stores in Duval County. As previously reported, plans also are under review for a Family Dollar in Downtown Jacksonville at the current site of Warren Motors at 233 E. State St.
Developer J.J. Lamberson, president of Twin Rivers Capital, who also is working on the Downtown Family Dollar store, said in an email Monday that he has not purchased the Arlington area property yet.
He said he is working on design and permitting of the Arlington project. Lamberson said in late June, when discussing the Downtown store, that he has developed 10 Family Dollars in the metropolitan Jacksonville area.
Bryn Winburn, Family Dollar public relations manager, said in an email that the company did not have information in its database about the Downtown and Arlington stores but said to check back in a few weeks.
The Dollar General website, www.dollargeneral.com, shows 25 stores in Duval County.
According to the websites and Securities and Exchange Commission information:
• Family Dollar, based in Matthews, N.C., operates 7,200 stores in 45 states. Its strategy to provide customers “with value and convenience continues to attract a wide range of income brackets, ethnicity groups and life stages,” according to the company.
It said its core customer is a female head of household in her mid-40s making less than $40,000 a year.
As of Aug. 27, about 54 percent of its customers had an annual gross income of less than $40,000 and about 24 percent had an annual gross income of less than $20,000.
A Family Dollar store averages about 7,100 square feet of selling space.
The Family Dollar SEC filing said its stores generally serve customers who live within 3-5 miles of the store.
About 63 percent of its stores were in strip malls, 35 percent in freestanding buildings and 2 percent were in downtown buildings.
“The relatively small size of a Family Dollar store allows us to select store locations that provide neighborhood convenience to our customers in each of these market areas,” it said.
The stores generally are open seven days a week and operate within the hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Its merchandise focuses on core categories, such as health and beauty aids, packaged food and refrigerated products, home-cleaning supplies, housewares, stationery, seasonal goods, apparel and home fashions.
The majority of the products are priced at $10 or less, with about 22 percent priced at $1 or less. The average customer transaction in the past fiscal year was around $10.
• Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., has more than 10,000 stores in 40 states.
About 70 percent of its stores serve communities with populations of less than 20,000 people. In more densely populated areas, its stores serve the surrounding neighborhoods. The majority of its customers live within 3-5 miles.
Its locations average 7,200 square feet in size and are designed to serve as an alternative to large discount and other large-box retail and grocery stores that might be located farther away.
Its products include necessities, such as basic packaged and refrigerated food and dairy products, cleaning supplies, paper products and health and beauty care items, as well as greeting cards, party supplies, apparel, housewares, hardware and automotive supplies, among other goods.
Consumables, which include food, cleaning, paper and personal care products, made up 73 percent of sales in the past fiscal year. Seasonal products accounted for 14 percent, home products were 7 percent and clothing was 6 percent.
Most items are priced below $10, with about 25 percent at $1 or less.
Its typical store is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. seven days a week.
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