MAXTON – Just last month, Dollar General opened its third store in the Maxton area.

This one, located at 3210 Midway Road, is a new format Dollar General DG Market that features an expanded selection of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables. This new discount retailer also carries the same categories, brands and products that customers have come to know at Dollar General.

Household essentials include cleaning supplies, paper products, over-the-counter medicines, hygiene products, baby items and more.

The manager of the business on Friday declined an interview request, instead deferring any questions to the corporate office.

Phone and emailed messages left with the corporate office media hotline were not immediately returned on Friday.

“The new DG Market format will provide the Maxton community with closer access to fresh and healthier foods and a convenient location to purchase the items they want and need at everyday low prices. We hope our customers will enjoy the new store,” Matthew Simonsen, Dollar General’s senior vice president of real estate and store development, said in a news release.”

The new format is part of the company’s strategy to be a major presence in rural America, away from the Walmarts and the Targets of the industry.

“We are excited to provide Maxton residents with our new DG Market format and look forward to welcoming customers to our new location,” Simonsen said in the release. “At Dollar General, we are committed to serving our customers with a pleasant shopping experience and strive to be a good corporate citizen.”

Gregory McLean, the store manager of the sister Maxton Dollar General on Bryants Circle, was asked why has the company expanded so heavily into the Robeson County town.

He emphasized that it was only his opinion, but said, “If you look at the demographics of it, we’re on each corner of town. One heading toward Laurinburg, one going toward Red Springs, and the new one going to Rowland.

“I think it’s just the competition of it. Making sure every area is covered,” McLean surmised. “We’re a neighborhood store. One Food Lion and one Piggly Wiggly. There’s really nothing else in Maxton. This grocery store has meats, produce. Those are places you want to shop. They’re making it real convenient getting our customers in here.”

So far, he said, the new location on Midway Road has not impacted his store. His business pulls employees from the Cascades Tissue Group in Wagram and the Campbell Soup Company plant in town.

“We’re a neighborhood store,” McLean reiterated. “My customer base is pretty strong.”