It is time to stand up Rowan County and say enough is enough to Dollar General and developer Teramore. U.S. 152, once a beautiful drive from Rockwell to Mooresville, is now marred with Dollar General stores the whole route.

Dollar General is wanting to put a store at the corner of Organ Church Road and U.S. 152 by tearing down a beautiful rock house. Four miles away is another store opened in November right by a Carson High. Three miles away, in Rockwell, you will find their much-maligned store that is quite often closed simply because they have no employees to work.

Dollar General opens stores cheaply and, if it doesn’t work, the company pulls out, leaving behind a building that could then become anything.

The latest store will be 9,100 square feet and employ just nine people. That is not a boon to the community. I checked with Curt’s down the road and I’m told they employ 27 people in only about 6,500 square feet.

Dollar General is not wanted in this rural community. The company is a cancer to any community it goes in; barely hire any help; pay very little, which is the reason why those people then don’t care to work; and often stores are trashed inside and out.

It does not care about or support any community it goes into.

I was at the Rowan County Planning Board meeting. The developer’s attorney said it like stores to go into poor, rural, country areas, with stores preferably 2 to 3 miles apart.

To me, that sounds like the kid on the playground who has to pay people to play with him.

Dollar General already has its next spot picked out in Gold Hill and it will continue right on down U.S. 52 if not stopped.

Rowan County, now is the time to speak up and speak out!

— Tammy Lynn

Rockwel