Dollar General opens new location in Penn Township

Dollar General opened a new store in Penn Township, along Harrison City-Export Road.

The 9,000-square-foot store is located near the Penn Crossing shopping plaza.

“Our customers are at the center of all that we do, and meeting customers’ needs is Dollar General’s top priority when choosing store locations,” spokeswoman Mary Kathryn Colbert said of the site. The store is expected to employ between six and 10 workers, Colbert said.

Dollar General officials estimate that about 75 percent of U.S. residents live within 5 miles of one of their stores.

The company opened a dozen stores in Western Pennsylvania in the past year, Colbert said.

The chain has nearly 40 stores between Downtown Pittsburgh and the Route 66 corridor through Armstrong and Westmoreland counties.

The development of new stores has not always gone smoothly.

Earlier this month, a group of Upper Burrell residents living on Dewey Drive told township supervisors they do not want the discount store moving into commercial property at the intersection of Dewey and Route 780, arguing it will change the rural character of the street and bring unwanted traffic.

Supervisors said the property is zoned for commercial use, and if Dollar General officials meet the current zoning ordinance’s requirements, they do not have the authority to turn down what is considered a permitted use.