By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Verbena —The Verbena Dollar General is open.

The store had its first full day of operation on April 17.

This location is a DG Plus floor plan, meaning it includes a larger refrigerated and frozen food section than many smaller Dollar General designs.

Customer Clara Edwards said she was excited about the store opening because it gives her more options close by.

“I love it being here, it’s a big help to us,” Edwards said. “I’m just delighted with it.”

Before the store opened, Verbena residents would have to drive to Clanton for anything they could not get at the convenience stores at Interstate 65, Exit 200.

Customer Mary Wilson said the store was only two miles from her house.

“It’s a beautiful store,” Wilson said.

Customer Felicia Dennis said the location is convenient because it is on her way home from work. She said liked that the store was not cluttered.

The Verbena store is one of 1,000 stores scheduled to open in 2017. Construction began on the 8,500-square-feet store in November.

Dollar General was founded in rural Scottsville, Kentucky in 1939. Dollar General spokesperson Crystal Ghassemi said the company has kept locating in rural communities as a part of its business model.

“Seventy percent of our stores serve populations of 20,000 or less,” Ghassemi said.

The Verbena location is hiring. Applications can be found at http://www2.dollargeneral.com/DG-Careers/Pages/index.aspx and searching with the Store Id 17498-AL-Verbena selected.