TENNGA, Ga. — Tucked between two signs reading “Welcome to Tennessee” and “Welcome to Georgia” on U.S. Highway 411 are two stores — Tennga Mercantile and a Dollar General — and that’s about it.
Come April 14, Dollar General won’t even be there anymore.
The Dollar General in Tennga is the beating heart of the community, residents say. It’s where many residents do all of their grocery shopping, since the next closest grocery stores are no less than 12 miles away, in either Crandall, Georgia, or Ocoee, Tennessee. But the Dollar General corporate office told store manager Christina Brown on March 14 that the location would close in a month’s time.
Christine Waters, operator of the Tennga Mercantile next door to Dollar General, said the store closing is going to really affect the community. There is a Dollar General location in Old Fort, Tennessee, just 3 miles north of the location in Tennga, but many community members that shop at the Tennga location walk to get there.
“There’s a lot of people right here that walk, and they can walk right to the dollar store,” Waters said. “They don’t have a car to drive.”