Gladbrook’s Family Dollar store pictured Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. After opening in April 2023, the store’s last day in operation was this past Saturday, Oct. 10. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

GLADBROOK – In the wake of Family Dollar’s shuttering earlier this month, Gladbrook will soon be getting a new discount retailer – Dollar General.

“We are currently finalizing our due diligence phase for a new Dollar General in Gladbrook, Iowa on East Street,” a brief email sent Tuesday, Oct. 20, to the newspaper by Dollar General Public Relations read, in part.

The now-shuttered Family Dollar building, which closed permanently on Saturday, Oct. 10, is located at 707 East Street on the northwest corner of Iowa 96 and T47. According to online real estate records, the bare lot was sold by an LLC connected to Luethje Auto Sales to Ridge Investment Group LLC in late 2021. In May 2023, MDC Coast 20, LLC bought the property and the recently constructed Dollar Tree/Family Dollar building for more than $1.8 million. MDC Coast 20 is part of Realty Income Corporation, a real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in San Diego and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Dollar Tree/Family Dollar had been one of Realty Income’s largest tenants, behind Walgreens and Dollar General, according to June 2024 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents disseminated by Wikipedia.

In the last few weeks, job advertisements for a store manager, an assistant store manager, and a temporary store clerk at Dollar General-Gladbrook have appeared on various job search platforms.

The newspaper reached out to Gladbrook City Hall this past Tuesday and was told the City has not received any formal communication from Dollar General regarding a new Gladbrook location.