By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Since the closing of the OpenMarket Place months ago, the parking lot at 8235 Highway 51 North has been mostly empty. But that all changed last Wednesday morning with the grand opening/ribbon cutting for the retail store Dirt Cheap. The ceremony was held by the Millington Area Chamber of Commerce and its President Charles Gulotta. Also in attendance were several Chamber members, Millington Mayor Terry Jones and executives from Dirt Cheap and several employees. “Wonderful, we’ve been outsourcing real-estate here in Millington for the last year,” Dirt Cheap Millington Store Manager Andrew Stubben said. “We signed this lease six months ago and have worked diligently for the last six weeks to get it open. We’re so glad to be here. I hope Millington is as excited to be here as we are.” It appeared the residents of Millington and the surrounding area were excited. The isles were packed shortly after the 9 a.m. opening. Before doors were unlocked officially to the public, dozens of shoppers were lined up with shopping baskets in hand. The first 100 customers received free T-shirts. With more than 60 employees, Dirt Cheap features items ranging from household items to food to clothes to entertainment devices. “Dirt Cheap is a discount retailer,” Stubben noted. “We buy from all different sorts of companies, fortune 500, fortune 4, 3, 2. We pretty much buy from anyone who we think we can get a great deal from and pass those discount onto the community. It’s a variety from food items to clothing, to blenders, to mattress, to sofas. You name it, if we can get it at a good price and resell it and pass the saving onto our customers, we’ll buy it.” Shoppers of all ages were taking advantage of opening day. There were toys, DVDs, shoes, furniture, clothing, appliances, TVs, food and more being placed in shopping carts. Stubben said he hopes for more similar days in Dirt Cheap’s future. And the manager added he wants the arrival of Dirt Cheap to be the start of something special for this part of Millington. “We’ve brought more than 65 jobs in this particular store to start with,” he said. “A lot of people who we’ve hired are from the Millington community. We’re adding sales tax and revenue to the county and the city is obviously going to help us all. “And hopefully it will boost up the shopping center,” Stubben concluded. “The shopping center isn’t exactly booming right now. Hopefully our presence here will definitely help that.”
Dirt Cheap is located at 8235 Highway 51 North and is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday and is always closed on Sundays.
