DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — A local Dollar General is facing backlash after a viral social media post made by the mayor.
Trotwood Mayor Mary McDonald took to Facebook Live after noticing that the Dollar General on East Main Street in Trotwood was in disarray, calling it “filthy.”
Mayor McDonald said she had already visited the store a week prior and asked them to make changes. She said when she came back and saw that conditions had gotten worse, she felt inclined to do something.
“I had no idea it was going to get this level of attention, but it’s obvious that other people feel this way,” McDonald said. “It’s just that people don’t take the time to call in to make the complaints and to do. They just tolerate it, get what they’re going to get and get out of there. My people deserve so much more. They deserve so much better than that. I’m going to do everything that I can as a leader to make sure that they get it.”
McDonald said she was stunned to see the conditions, which included two pit bulls in the establishment, workers out of uniform and those same workers playing vulgar music. She also said she saw unorganized merchandise all over the store.
Her post ultimately got the Dollar General closed to be cleaned on Tuesday, and the mayor said while that’s a good start, there is a lot more that needs to happen.
“There’s no training, there’s no supervision,” McDonald said. “I’m hoping that attention will be brought to this company so that we can see something better. Somebody was in there cleaning, from what I understand. I think that’s a good start, but if you don’t reinforce it by educating, there is nothing that can be done about the situation.”
The mayor said she reached out to several offices, including Trotwood Fire Marshal, Trotwood Code Enforcement and the district’s state representative.
Now, she wants the corporate office to make a change to the store.
“The filth, you know, the fact that things are not put together,” McDonald said. “I can go to some of the same stores on other end of town, and things are neat, and things are in order. I know that. It can be better here in our community, too, if the corporate office insisted that everything is equal in every area.”
The Dollar General reopened Wednesday. 2 NEWS spoke with the store manager, who said that he could not comment on the incident.
