What a Difference a Road Makes

Store Interior

After being planned since 1997, Camino de Santa Fe opened to traffic on May 22, 2015. The City of Lamar had taken the initiative to finish the road that connects East Parmenter to East Olive Street and as a consequence, open more through traffic to the Dollar General Store and provide another traffic outlet to Walmart.  City Administrator, John Sutherland, told the city council some time prior to the ribbon cutting, there were some concerns that the smaller retail store, Dollar General would allow its lease to expire as revenues were not meeting expectations.

Manager Carrie Hart

In the half year since traffic has been open on Camino de Santa Fe, there has been improvement at Dollar General. Store manager for the past six years, Carrie Hart, said several of her past general managers had expressed the same concern that the store was under-performing, mostly because it was difficult to reach. “I was listening to the news one day when I heard that the street would be completed and I went ‘Yea’, but then it also took a year or so to complete after that,” she said.  While Hart couldn’t specify just how much business had improved over the past six months, she said there has been a noticeable increase in shoppers.  “We’re getting new faces in the store all the time and we do have some people who come in several times a day to do some shopping,” she stated.  She added that as far as she knows, the new roadway and increased traffic will probably make the difference to renewing the property lease when the time comes.

May 2015 Ribbon Cutting

There is a certain amount of open acreage just south of the Dollar General building which is on the market and has been for several years. There is also a vacant store that sits on the south side of Dollar General that was built at the same time as the store, but has never had a renter.

Administrator Sutherland said back in May, “The Dollar General developer estimated a $1.2 million income per year on the business that only realized about half that. They had a ten year lease and with only a couple of years left, were thinking of letting it end.  This new road can bring increased traffic to them and I’ve been in contact with two additional developers over the course of the year who are now interested in putting up stores.  Sutherland added that an unofficial check shows that the store’s business has increased.

Commenting on the re-opening of Taco John’s in early November, the City Administrator said that will be a benefit to the city through a new business that will provide jobs, add to the city sales tax base and will once again become a commercial customer of the Lamar Light Plant.

By Russ Baldwin