WEBB — A fire inflicted heavy damage on the Dollar General store here Friday afternoon and evening (Sept. 30).
The store is closed, its future uncertain for now.
In a Monday afternoon statement from Dollar General public relations, the company said, “We are currently in the process of assessing the store’s damage and expect to have updated plans on the store’s future at the conclusion of that assessment.”
The half-dozen or so employees of the Webb business “are expected to be temporarily relocated to support surrounding stores,” the statement said. The nearest is in Tutwiler, about 6½ miles away. Dollar General also operates a store in Charleston.
Webb Mayor Michael Plez said Monday that he is hopeful the store will reopen sooner rather than later.
Plez said town residents, particularly those lacking means of transportation, are “really missing” the convenience of being able to buy needed items, including food products, so close to home.
He said the store's proximity to many of the town's residents is so beneficial that "on a good day, some people just walk to the Dollar General instead of cranking up their vehicle."
In addition, the sales tax revenue generated from the store is significant, the mayor added, and the town gets a portion of that state tax back each month.
"The revenue that comes from there has been much needed for the town, plus we need other businesses. We don't need to lose any businesses."
Plez hopes to be in contact with company executives to learn about the plan going forward.
“I would love to see the Dollar General be built back and continue to meet the needs, wants and desires of the town and the surrounding community,” he noted.
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An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office examined the scene Monday (Oct. 3), said Tallahatchie County Fire Coordinator Linnie Maples, who added that the cause “is still under investigation.”
“About middle ways of the store is where [the fire] began,” said Maples. “It looks like it started in the product aisles and spread with a heavy burn pattern in the ceiling, eliminating insulation in the ceiling of the building to indicate that might be where the fire started.”
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The fire was initially reported about 1 p.m., said Maples, who noted that two cashiers and a manager who were inside at the time were able to evacuate, and no injuries were reported.
Maples said personnel and firefighting equipment from seven different volunteer fire departments battled the blaze at one time or another.
When firefighters from the Webb-Westside, Tutwiler, Sharkey-Hampton Lake and Vance fire departments arrived shortly after 1, smoke was billowing from the 9,014-square-foot building at 2060 U.S. Highway 49 East.
Firefighters battled the blaze into midafternoon. It rekindled about 7:30 p.m., when Sumner, Tippo and Paynes fire departments were called in with Webb-Westside.
Sumner firefighter Corey Gee, one of those who entered the metal building, which has a concrete block facade, he said it appeared “every single thing was on fire or smoldering.”
The Webb Dollar General location, known as store No. 11352 in company circles, began operations April 2, 2009.
The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based discount store chain operates nearly 19,000 stores in 47 states and has been quite successful while expanding into more and more communities across the country.
In late August, the company reported second quarter 2022 earnings of $9.4 billion and operating profit of $913.4 million.
