TERLINGUA — Construction is underway on the future Dollar General in Terlingua, located just west of the junction between Highway 118 and FM 170 in Study Butte. The site of the former EMS building has been leveled, and crews are working to clear a space for the store and attached parking lot.
Apart from Aramark, the concessionaire that quietly runs the Terlingua Motor Inn, Dollar General will be the first major chain to operate in South Brewster County.
The news wasn’t welcome to many Terlinguans, who take pride in the uniqueness of their community. Back in August, a small group banded together to organize against the sale, worried about the chain’s impact on local businesses and citing concern about environmental issues like plastic bags and glowing black-and-yellow signs.
Terlingua is not the first community in the Big Bend to attempt to stop the spread of the chain, which gravitates towards rural, lower-income markets. There are more Dollar General locations in the United States than Walmart and McDonald’s combined — most of them clustered in towns off the beaten path.
In October 2022, over a hundred Alpine residents showed up to a city council meeting to protest a third Dollar General that would be built on former city land. City officials attempted to stall by slowing down the re-platting of the lots, but then City Attorney Rod Ponton cautioned that it wasn’t legal for the city to block a lawful business from purchasing property. (The Dollar General corporation agreed and threatened legal action.)
Terlingua is not an incorporated city, so there was little formal recourse locals could take beyond begging outsiders to buy the property out from under the chain. Those efforts were not successful, and the closing on the deal took place in September.
One compromise that Terlinguans have already been able to make with the developer is a promise to implement lighting in compliance with the area’s dark sky regulations. “We understand that Big Bend is known for its ‘splendid isolation’ — part of which is being able to view the night sky unmarred by light pollution,” representatives for Kinetic Design and Development wrote. “We hope this letter demonstrates the sincerity of our intent to build a Dollar General store which enhances the local community.”
In an email to The Big Bend Sentinel, Dollar General’s public relations team estimated that the store would be open in spring 2025, “although we understand construction progress may alter this timeline.”