Shelbyville NOW POLL

Shelbyville NOW Focus
North Main Street Traffic Flow

Shelbyville has had one area of growth over the past decade.  This spot on the map is obvious to most Shelbyville and Bedford County residents.   

NORTH MAIN STREET

When Wal-Mart establishes a location in a small town, the entire map of that town changes.   This fact has played out right here in Shelbyville.  Fast food establishments and other tag along businesses vacated other areas of our city to flock around the retail giant.   The past decade has seen areas of Shelbyville left with vacant buildings and a weak flow of traffic to support the remaining businesses.
The biggest change we can see daily is the traffic flow along North Main Street.   The intersection of Colloredo Blvd. and North Main Street has turned into the main intersection of Shelbyville and has created a congested area of traffic.    When travelling north or south on North Main drivers often get frustrated with the increase in traffic. 

There is one major problem that is contributing to the problem with traffic on this stretch of highway.  SPEEDING!  

The posted speed limit on North Main Street is 30 MPH.   How many drivers travel at this speed?  I would guess less than 10% of the drivers travelling North Main Street obey the law and stay within the limits.   I would make another guess and say that a high percent of drivers travel more than 40 MPH in this area.   This creates major safety issues for traffic flow from side road drivers attempting to turn north or south onto North Main.    This speed limit has been posted for several years but WE have failed to adjust our speed to what is posted.   Shelbyville Police Department has monitored and tried their best to enforce this Speed Limit and have issued many citations.   But we continue to treat North Main as if it were a drag strip.
 

I recently conducted an experiment.    I attempted to drive 30 MPH heading north on Highway 231 beginning at the 41A – 231 intersection.   It was as if I were standing still compared to the traffic around me.   By the time I reached Wal-Mart I had been passed by 13 cars and had horns blown at me along with many hand gestures.   It was as if I were a nuisance to every other driver on the road.   I repeated the process heading south and got the same results but this time I witnessed two near misses as drivers attempted to enter the traffic flow from side roads.

It may seem that 30 MPH is too slow on a four-lane road, but 30 MPH is posted for a reason.   First, and is SAFETY.   Secondly the traffic lights are set up on timers that are calculated at a 30 MPH speed flow and this timing should allow for smooth flow of traffic.   The flow is totally disrupted when drivers refuse to obey the posted speed limits.   WE ALL need to slow down when driving this stretch of roadway.   Not only will it be safer, but it will also create a better traffic flow and possibly spread the traffic out to a point of very few jams at our main intersection. 

Safe Travels……         

Dollar General's Eight Locations in Bedford County

Dollar General Invasion

Eight!  That’s the number of Dollar General stores in Bedford county at the moment.   Rumors are circulating that there may be two or three more in the county by the end of 2019.  
Is this a good sign for Bedford County?  We will let you decide.
After much research on the Dollar General business model, we have found a few interesting statistics that might give you some insight as to whether the appearance of the yellow and black signs is a good thing for a community.  
Dollar General has a few different ways to determine if a store location is desirable in a specific location.
1.    Rural Area-  Thinly populated areas in rural America are a target for DG because of the lack of retail options for residents in those areas.    Most of these areas across America also have become economically stagnant and the cost for a small business owner to build a business is next to impossible.
2.    High Percentage of population on government assistance-  The Dollar General CEO has publicly said that people on government assistance are our biggest fans
3.    Low Income areas near poverty level-  Demographic reports are studied thoroughly to seek out the lower income areas across the country as target areas.
4.    Small Chance of growth or negative growth-  Dollar General has used negative growth areas as a target for several years.   The chances of competition in these areas are slim to none.
The above strategy shows that Dollar General is betting on the decline of the middle class in the United States.   So much, that the company plans on opening 1,000 new stores within the next year.  That is the opening of 3 stores per day.
   
Other statistics found in our research indicate that the average individual purchase is $14.00 - $15.00 and an average of five items.  This could indicate that people are using Dollar General as a quick stop of convenience instead of going to chain grocery stores and other big box competitors.

The average Dollar General has five employees:   1- Manager,  1- Assistant Manager,  3 – Associates
These employees are responsible for all aspects of the location.   From unloading the trucks to minor accounting duties,  these employees are over worked and payed modestly.  The average Assistant Manager’s salary (nationwide) is $28,000.00 annually. 
Dollar General stores for the most part are constructed as a concrete block / metal structure, keeping the average cost to $250,000.00.   The average square footage per store is 9,100 sq. ft.

Dollar General uses strategic packaging and branding to create the illusion of “good value”.   Most big box discount stores use this tactic to make customers think they are getting a “better deal” when shopping with them.  For instance,  a bottle of ketchup may sell for .50 less at Dollar General, but when comparing the same brand from other retailers you will see that the bottles have a smaller capacity in the Dollar General version.   This strategy creates the perception of “cheaper” and the average consumer falls for the tactic.   Retail items such as hardware, tools, and kitchen accessories are branded specifically for Dollar General and are typically lacking in quality but are priced much less than name brand, higher quality items.  The perception is “value price”, but in reality the consumer suffers from the purchase of a poor quality product. 
The shopping experience at most Dollar General locations is an adventure.   The average store struggles with keeping the shelves stocked and most of the time items are scattered and ransacked sometimes resembling a flea market.    The customer is left to fend for himself most of the time because of undertrained and underpaid associates.   But, that seems to be the business model.   When the only thing that matters is “cheap”,  they can get by with understaffed and sloppy.
So,  what do you believe?  
Is it a sign of growth when you see a yellow and black sign pop up in your neighborhood?  Or, is this a report card on our local economy?

sources: ( RetailDive 2018, 2019,  Wall Street Journal, retailwire.com,  infoscout.com)
   

PAST ACT Introduced ONCE AGAIN

    
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-  Florida)                  Rep. Steve Cohen (D- Tennessee)

   
Yesterday ,  January 22, 2019 the PAST ACT once again was introduced to Congress.    Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) and Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Florida), co-sponsors of the Tydings Memorial PAST ACT: HR693 which would eliminate current shoe packages(pads) and action devices (chains), presented the new proposed legislation to the 116th Congress.  The legislation also was referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee for review.   The legislation's  official introduction title included the following: 

To amend the Horse Protection Act to designate additional unlawful acts under the Act, strengthen penalties for violations of the Act, improve Department of Agriculture enforcement of the Act, and for other purposes.

Other co-sponsors of the legislation include Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas),  Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Illinois), and Rep. Chris Collins (R-New York).
This would mean that 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats are the co-sponsors.   

In edition to these co-sponsors,  Priscilla Presley along with Lara Trump are reported to be supporters of the new legislation.   In 2018 Lara Trump along with Mike Huckaby and Governer Rick Scott successfully led the campaign to ban Dog Racing in the state of Florida.   It is unclear as to what role Mrs. Trump will play in the campaign for passage of the PAST ACT,  but this edition of the legislation has bi-partisan support and a new twist with Trump involved.   

Updates to this  development will be reported when available