Do You Plan to Shop at Family Dollar When it Opens?
The North Carolina-based chain will open another location soon in Seminole Heights.
In a few months, Seminole Heights will become home to another Family Dollar.
The North Carolina-based chain will open its doors at 5100 N. Florida Avenue sometime in the first quarter of the year, according to Bryn Winburn, a Family Dollar spokeswoman. The store will be about 7,500 square feet, Winburn said.
With residents, business owners and local leaders divided on whether Family Dollar should set up shop in a community known for its small businesses, we decided to ask readers a question.
Do you plan to shop at Family Dollar when it opens? Take our poll or tell us in the comments.
Elizabeth Graham
7:01 am on Friday, January 4, 2013
NO!
Jen Allen
7:44 am on Friday, January 4, 2013
Heck NO!!! I don't trust products at any dollar store anyways.
Carol
8:02 am on Friday, January 4, 2013
Seriously - what is the big uproar about this store opening? It allows neighborhood folks the abllity to walk to this store and hopefully can employ our neighborood kids. And a side note - many of the products sold in there are brand names Jen - I currently go to the store on Nebraska to get all my cleaning supplies as well as some food items that are half the price of Publix. I live on Haya St and will now be alble to walk to this new location. I moved from Westchase to Seminole Heights 2 years ago to be in a more diverse - open minded - neighborhood where people actually wave at each other and speak! The close mindness of all who are so against this store baffles me. It's a small store with lots of products - it's not Walmart :)
Jennifer Logan-Porter
12:27 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013
I agree with you Carol. Since I grew up in Palma Ceia/South Tampa, I thought the open-minded and friendly nature of Seminole Heights to be charming. Hopefully the store's management will be mindful of keeping the area clean, not just for the sake reducing complaints, but in hopes of being more enticing and bringing in more customers. To hear of all this negativity is quite disappointing, especially when we should be embracing new opportunities for our neighborhood- big or small. Just my thoughts...
Sharon Short
9:04 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Carol...I have lived in Seminole Heights for about 70 years and I totally agree and I look forward to saving money by shopping there for many items they sell at discount prices. To the residents of Seminole Heights who don't need to consider saving on the many name brand items they sell, I am happy for you, but I look forward to making my pension stretch a little farther by shopping there when they open. I can also walk there,thus will also save on gas. I also support our many small businesses in Seminole Heights, as often as I can.
Jen Allen
11:19 am on Friday, January 4, 2013
Just because you can purchase it at publix doesn't mean it's a safe product to have in your home.
Rebecca
11:35 am on Friday, January 4, 2013
Absolutely not. Familiy Dollar does not belong in the new location when they have so many others on every other corner of our neighborhood. FD doesn't keep up its properties which is evident by the state of the other stores so why would I support this business? It is not, as some others have commented, that the LIFETIME residents of Seminole Heights are closed minded about a new store opening, it is that we are disappointed that a store that does not maintain its other properties is moving in even closer to our homes and will be bad for business for the other independent stores on the same street that do maintain their properties and have become active in the community. Family Dollar has not made a habit of trying to fit into and better any of the communities it has pushed its way into and I would gladly pay a few bucks more at Publix where the management knows the value of keeping a clean property and making efforts to support the local neighborhood.
Danielle Ferrari
1:57 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
Well said Rebecca. When Family Dollar first made it know that they wanted to be our "neighbors" wtih the new store I called corportate and expressed all the same concerns that you just expressed. They fed me a bunch a b.s. about fixing up their existing store fronts but after a few months and freqent calls to them to get them to stick to their word, they still haven't done anything. In fact, the store at Columbus and Tampa Street are worse than before.
Sal N Joe
3:39 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
I highly agree, Rebecca. Not to mention...the traffic is going to be even MORE miserable on FL ave...especially in that location. Many neighbors won't even be able to get onto FL ave. from their streets.
DianaD
6:47 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013
I wish Seminole Heights residents were more concerned with the condition of the alleys in their backyards. Has anyone walked down these lately? Trash, discarded furniture, overgrown trees/shrubs/weeds - just flat out gross. And yes, these are the backs of yards that sported the "No Family Dollar" signs. C'mon Seminole Heights, let's get our own yards in order!
Jen Allen
11:56 am on Friday, January 4, 2013
WELL said Rebecca :)
Carol
12:15 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
Wow - I travel all the way to the Nebraska location now and will be glad to not have to go to that one anymore. I suppose the store is as good as its location and as good as the folks who frequent that store? How can it be "Bad Business" for other businesses nearby that are in no way competing with family dollar? A couple of bars, spa, pizza place and 50 car lots? Why not have the atitude that it's going to be there regardless of your views, so how about if you walk by and a paper cup needs to be picked up, you will do it for the betterment of OUR neighborhood....even if I am not a LIFETIME resident, I take pride where I live and moved here because I love this neighborhood.
Chuck Stephens
2:14 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
You lost. Get over it.
Sal N Joe
3:37 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
My family REFUSES. BOYCOTT FD. IF WE ALL DON'T SHOP THERE, HOPEFULLY THEY WILL GET RID OF IT!!!!
E. Morton
4:57 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
Have you ever been in one of these stores? Cheap useless crap.
chris
7:29 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
I have mixed feelings about the opening of the new Family Dollar. On one hand, as another commenter suggested, it will provide at least a couple of jobs, albeit low-paying, to the neighborhood, and any new business moving in that isn't another used car lot or a check cashing agent is an improvement to the area. However, Family Dollar's business model seems to be to oversaturate a market, when this location opens up, there will be at least 5 locations within one mile of where we live. Also, Family Dollar's track record of upkeep with their other area locations leaves much to be desired. The location on Sligh and 22nd is fairly well-kept, but the stores on Nebraska Ave have increasingly become blights to their neighborhoods. It would be a real shame if the new store on Florida Ave had a negative impact on the fledgling resurgence of locally-owned business in the area just because its corporate overseers refuse to keep up the grounds. Personally I won't be shopping here, I'll continue to patronize Publix. They're not perfect, but they tend be a better employer and a much more responsible neighbor.
Sharon Short
11:53 am on Sunday, January 6, 2013
As a resident of Seminole heights that lives within 1 block of the new Family Dollar store, I would like to point out the fact that the existing building was in disrepair for many years and was an eyesore. As I watch the repairs being done to the building, I see an improvement coming to the area. I welcome this newly repaired and painted building. I hope they will keep their building in good repair and the parking areas clean of trash. We'll see how it works out.
Jason Colon
2:45 am on Monday, January 7, 2013
I rather it be a dollar tree than a family dollar, if I had to choose. But, I obviously don't.