(Above is a picture of two Dollar Generals. The top is the Dollar General on Tazewell Pike, with metal sheeting, concrete stucco, large pole signs - the design being built on Washington Pike. Below is the Dollar General built at 3320 E Governor John Sevier Highway, adjacent to the historic Ramsey House and developed by The Broadway Group. It's an excellent example of store design in harmony with a rural, historic community. The store has an all-brick facade, monument signs, full cut-off lighting, and extensive landscaping around the store and in the parking lot. It looks great!  JMB Investment Company, Schaad Brown Real Estate, and Dollar General should use this design in the Ritta community!)

Two Knoxville-based firms - JMB Investment Company LLC and Schaad Brown Real Estate (not associated with Schaad Companies) - are building a store for Dollar General at the corner of Murphy Road and Washington Pike in Knoxville. Dollar General has standard store designs, and this will be their lowest end construction, with sheet metal and concrete block facades, little-to-no landscaping, large brightly lit signs and outward facing light packs on the building.

Area residents are supportive of a general store business concept, but disappointed that developers are not using higher quality store designs that they have used elsewhere in Knox County.

Schaad Brown Real Estate, JMB Investment Company, and Dollar General have the opportunity to be a great friend of the Ritta community – to help preserve the historic character of the area by making a few enhancements to the store appearance which have been done at other Dollar General locations. Potential enhancements include:

• Lighting - a lighting design that minimizes light trespass and blends with the rural and residential character of the neighborhood.
• Signage - using monument signs and exterior downward lighting instead of interior lit signs and a pole sign for the primary signage.
• Landscaping - a screen along the 12 foot retaining wall, parking islands with landscaping, an evergreen screen between the store and adjacent properties, and landscaping between the parking lot and curb.
• Exterior Appearance - the use of a brick facade instead of the proposed metal and concrete block facade
• Retaining wall material - instead of a "poured-in-place" bare concrete wall, a retaining wall built from Tennessee limestone, a building material commonly used in the area by early settlers, would complement the community's architectural character.

We call on Michael Schaad and Gene Brown of Schaad Brown Real Estate, the managers of JMB Investment Company LLC, and the Dollar General Corporation to build one of their higher quality designs at 5845 Washington Pike, like they and other developers have done in some other locations in Knox County.

Additional information and background is available here, including a letter sent to the developers on November 30, 2015.