I represent the Support Group to Stop Wallowa Dollar General, which includes a number of Wallowa County residents who oppose Dollar General’s plans to build a store just outside Wallowa’s city limits.

Here are some of the reasons why:

• Wallowa County is a small remote settlement in Northeast Oregon that values locally owned businesses striving to make a living and whose culture is not compatible with chain businesses. The only chain stores in operation in Wallowa County are Subway and Safeway, which have been in place for many years.

• Wallowa has a locally owned grocery store that has met local purchasing needs for the past 40 years. We feel Dollar General will not benefit this or other businesses in Wallowa County, but in fact will be a detriment.

• Most of the economic benefits will be to Dollar General.

• There is a Dollar General within approximately 25 miles from Wallowa.

• We feel that appropriate additional retail stores should be located within the center of the communities rather than on the outskirts creating urban sprawl.

• Many Wallowa residents were unaware of this development until construction began and feel there should have been opportunities to comment.

• Many Wallowa County residents we have spoken with do not want, nor will support, a Dollar General.

• Though we support growth in our community, we feel that this type of development does not fit the values and culture of Wallowa County.

• Wallowa is the gateway to one of the greatest jewels in the state of Oregon. We do not feel the first impression to Wallowa County visitors should be a large yellow sign reading “DOLLAR GENERAL.”

People who wish to comment on this article please send comments to the Chieftain, comment on Facebook, and/or to our Facebook page, which will be available as soon as possible.

For information on the effects of Dollar General to communities, please go to the website “17 Problems: How Dollar Store Chains Hurt Communities.”

Teresa Smergut

Wallowa

The author writes on behalf of the Support Group to Stop the Development of Dollar General.

Last spring, my wife and I drove to Texas to visit her folks. From Oregon, our road trip took us through Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada — a trip of about 7,000 miles.

One thing that stuck in my mind from that trip was the proliferation of “dollar stores” along the route. I was amazed to see the number of small towns with boarded-up “Mom and Pop” buildings and new Dollar Generals on the edge of town. We made a game of calling “Dollar General!” at each new sighting.

Now surprise-surprise, Dollar General is building in Wallowa. As we learned from Erika Polmar’s excellent and well-researched “Other Views” column in last week’s Chieftain, there are many reasons to oppose Dollar General. Erika mentions the killing of local businesses, profits leaving the county, poor employment practices, coercion of suppliers, negative property values, lawsuits etc.

In addition to the important negatives she pointed out, I also feel that replacement of local business by chains destroys the uniqueness and character of individual small towns and communities, resulting in a bland sameness.

Is this what we want here? I’m hoping that Wallowa County will be different.

Jon Larson

Enterprise