City zoning benefits some, hurts others

Although Olney City Council members voted to approve a zoning change that would allow a third dollar store to come to town, other rural Texas towns have taken steps in recent years to limit Dollar General and Dollar Tree franchises to stave off negative effects of the fast-growing stores, several reports showed.

The Olney Council approved a recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Board to change the zoning of three lots on State Highway 79 South owned by County Commissioner Stacey Rogers from Residential to Business-3.

A study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance found that dollar stores were the fastest-growing food retailers by household expenditure share (increasing by 89.7 percent), with rural growth outpacing growth elsewhere (increasing by 102.9 percent).”

“Though dollar stores still represent a small share of national household food purchases (2.1 percent in 2020), they play an increasingly prominent role in foodat- home purchases for certain disadvantaged and rural communities.”

The recent growth in dollar store food expenditures along with the decline in grocery store food spending, particularly in rural areas, raises concerns that dollar stores may challenge and force out local grocers through competitive pricing, leaving consumers with limited, lesshealthy food options.

“The problem is that if the grocery store closes, this impacts the town in a big way,” David Procter, an expert on community development and director of the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University, said. “Our research shows grocers are barometers for other businesses in town: as goes the grocery store, so goes other independent businesses in that community.”

Mr. Rogers said he was approached about selling the land to a dollar store chain for a deluxe dollar store that would sell packaged meats and produce - directly competing with Stewart’s Food Store.

“It needs [to be] rezoned for retail business for placement on an inventory of available properties that can be considered to help bring in new retail or industry,” Tom Parker, executive director of the Olney Economic Development Corporation said. “It has been asked if the property was for sale by a developer that may or may not sell groceries. It’s not a grocery-only store being considered.”

A study by the American Public Health Association shows that dollar stores have rapidly expanded their food offerings in recent years but “these foods tend to be higher in calories and lower in nutrients, raising public health concerns, especially in rural and low-income areas where food-access challenges are often greatest.”

The ILSR study showed that dollar stores employ fewer people on average – eight workers per store - and can be magnets for crime because they are thinly staffed and often disorganized, a report by Pro-Publica said..

The promise of lower prices is also a mirage in many cases, the study said. Many of the products at dollar stores are packaged in single servings or sold in smaller quantities than the same items sold at grocery stores – they may charge lower prices but products can be more expensive per ounce, the report said.