LANCASTER — By the end of the year, Lancaster residents will likely have a grocery store within walking distance of most houses within the city limits.
While the deal has not been finalized, county officials are in negotiations with Dollar General Market to bring a store to the old stockyards property on U.S. 27 south of the Lancaster Public Square, said Garrard County Judge-Executive John Wilson.
Dollar General Market has several locations in other parts of Kentucky, including Clinton, Green and Russell counties. The chain recently opened seven stores in the Las Vegas area, one in¿Georgia and two in California, according to the company website.
Garrard Economic Development Director Nathan Mick and state Rep. Lonnie Napier, R-Lancaster, met with company officials in both Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., last year. Mick and Napier have been trying to get a grocery store to come back to Lancaster for several years.
“Nathan Mick deserves a lot of credit for getting us this deal,” said Lancaster Mayor Brenda Powers. “I just hope the deal is signed, sealed and delivered very soon.”
Powers said the price of food at Dollar General Market is economical for most families, and the stores sell clothes as well as toiletries. She hopes people will patronize the store instead of continuing to drive to Stanford and Danville for necessities, so the supermarket will remain in business in Lancaster.
Harrodsburg-based Vantage Engineering, which has worked on 34 Dollar General and Dollar General Market projects, has been contracted to survey the former stockyards property. The firm’s staff also will make sure any construction is in line with Lancaster planning and zoning regulations, according to Kendal Wise, owner of Vantage Engineering.
