Are There Too Many Dollar Stores In Our Area?

When Stone Mountain-Lithonia Patch recently reported about a new Family Dollar store under construction on Panola Road, which will replace one just a few doors away, some readers were less than thrilled.

Angela Smith commented: This is ridiculous. If you'll notice, they only put up the "dollar-type" stores on our side of town. There are no such stores in Buckhead and only one in Midtown. We need to start protesting this type of behavior. It only drops the property value of our homes. Get real, people. What does Family Dollar, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, etc. have to offer our community?

Smith isn't alone in her reaction to this type of store setting up another location.  On Monday in Southwest Atlanta, a town hall meeting was held for residents to discuss their concerns about Family Dollar's increasing number of stores.

From the Cascade Patch article: The SW Atlanta community believes that discount retailers such as Family Dollar have a tradition of bringing down the value of neighborhoods, and also say there is evidence that their parking lots turn into havens for crime.  Residents also say that there are enough Family Dollar stores in the area, and that the community needs other sorts of businesses other than Family Dollar.

What do you think? Are there too many dollar stores in Stone Mountain and Lithonia, or not enough? Tell us in the comments section below.