Trying to shop at DG Market

Howdy folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we will try to shop at Dollar General Market, a relatively new competitor to the Houston grocer scene. We’ll be visiting one of the newest locations: 1838 S Kirkwood Rd, Houston, TX 77077. When Dollar General developed its Market concept, the idea was not too far off from Walmart’s Neighborhood Market concept. This was how I first experienced shopping at a DG Market location in Ohio. The store felt like Dollar General’s version of a Neighborhood Market. It was a former full-sized grocery store that DG Market had taken over, cutting out service departments to expand general merchandise selection, but otherwise, it felt like a pretty standard grocery store. Honestly, even with my positive experience in Ohio, it wouldn’t be at the top of the list of where I would want to shop. That would be Marc’s or even some of the larger Discount Drug Mart stores, but it was still a competent grocery store. I was pleased when I heard Dollar General planned on bringing the DG Market concept to Houston.  The first area location announced was in a remodeled Dollar General store on Gears Road. Even though this store would be smaller than the Dollar General Markets I had come to know in the Midwest, it still seemed promising. Heck, La Michoacana has proven that small-format groceries in Houston can be very successful. However, I’m left with mixed opinions after finally visiting a Houston DG Market.

The location I chose to visit was a former Walgreens at the corner of Kirkwood and Briar Forest. I actually used to live in this area, so I’m quite familiar with the demographics. In my opinion, this would be a great launching point for DG Market. Also, the reuse of a former drugstore seemed like it would fit perfectly. I’ve seen Dollar General reuse old drugstores before and even covered Dollar Tree and Family Dollar trying the same on HHR. The area was also a good choice; while there are plenty of grocery options in the area, like a Food Town a block to the East, a Kroger a block to the West, and an HEB a couple of blocks South, there is limited mobility in this area and a large number of residences. So what’s wrong with the store? Well, basically, it’s too small. While I know earlier I said that small-format grocery can work in Houston, this is just too small. This DG Market has only three aisles of groceries, and the third aisle isn’t even full. The first aisle is perishables and fridge and freezer vases. The second aisle is “center store” grocery, packaged shelf-stable items, and the third is bottled and canned drinks, which only take about half the length of the aisle. The rest of the store is a downsized version of precisely what you expect in a standard Dollar General. While I was in the store, at least one other customer was walking the grocery aisles, complaining openly about the lack of products and selection. While this new DG Market concept may prove fruitful in some areas, I can’t see this as a full-line grocery store like I could with the older locations. It still has its place within the market, but for me, at least, it would be a last resort.