By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Billingsley residents now have more convenient shopping options, thanks to a Dollar General on Highway 82 West.

The store will hold a grand opening on Jan. 6 at 8 a.m. To celebrate the opening, the first 50 adult customers will receive gift cards and the first 200 will receive a free tote bag and complimentary samples of products.

Even before the grand opening, the store was open for business with some enthusiastic customers.

The store is one of the larger floor plans for a DG store and has a selection of refrigerated groceries.

Erika and Don O’Brien were excited about the store opening. The couple lives about six miles from the store and are grateful to have a store closer than Clanton or Prattville.

“It’s unbelievable,” Erika O’Brien said. “We have needed this for years.”

The couple commented that the store had a good variety and everything they needed.

“I love it,” Erika O’Brien said.

Don O’Brien said the DG is convenient because it was usually 30 miles to go to the store in Prattville.

“This is going to help a lot of folks,” Don O’Brien said.

Dollar General tends to locate a number of its stores in areas where choices are limited.

“When choosing store locations, meeting customers’ needs is Dollar General’s top priority,” Angela Petkovic, media contact for Dollar General Corporate, said. “The company looks for places where we can offer customers an easy and convenient shopping choice. We know convenience is a major factor in our customers’ shopping decisions, as we generally serve customers within a three- to five-mile radius, or 10-minute drive. We also take demographic trends, competitive factors, traffic patterns and community concerns into consideration.”

The Billingsley store is expected to employ six to 10 people.

“Dollar General is committed to delivering a pleasant shopping experience that includes a convenient location, a wide assortment of merchandise and great prices on quality products,” Dan Nieser, Dollar General’s senior vice president of real estate and store development, said in a press release. “We hope our area customers will enjoy shopping at Dollar General’s new location.”