TUPELO — Dollar General has bought 41 former Wal-mart Express stores in 11 states for an undisclosed sum.
Included in the purchase are five locations in Mississippi: Belmont, Derma, Mantachie, Nettleton and Sardis. Dollar General has existing stores in these communities and will move into the larger locations that were once Wal-mart Express. Dollar General did not buy the location in Walnut, but it does have a store there and in nearby Falkner.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports Dollar General said Wednesday it will relocate many of its existing stores into the former Wal-mart Express locations and add fresh meat and produce. The discount retailer also said it would operate the fuel stations at 37 of the locations.
“Dollar General is excited to add these locations to our existing store base. We look forward to the opportunity to better serve our customers in these communities by continuing to provide the convenience and value they expect from Dollar General,” said Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched the smaller-format Wal-mart Express stores in 2011 to compete with the rising popularity of dollar stores. The stores on average were around 12,000 to 15,000 square feet in size. Wal-Mart began rebranding the Wal-mart Express stores as Wal-mart Neighborhood Markets in 2014, and the moniker has since been applied to larger 40,000 to 45,000-square-foot stores.
A Wal-mart Neighborhood Market is opening next Wednesday in Tupelo.
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