Family Dollar opens in Evergreen today. The discount variety store will be open seven days a week at 2185 U.S. 2 East.

Family Dollar is not a traditional “dollar store” where every product costs $1, but the store offers a wide variety of items — including groceries, clothes and household products — for discount prices.

The store also includes Family Dollar’s new “Dollar Stop” section, which includes products such as soap, cleaning supplies and cookies for a dollar. Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, supplies these items.

“You can find everything from $1 snacks to $50 comforters,” District Manager Tim Thigpen said.

Thigpen, of Big Timber, manages all of the Family Dollar locations across the state.

He said the store is hard to categorize precisely, but it carries “a little bit of everything for local folks.”

Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, under the Dollar Tree umbrella, Family Dollar has 1,500 locations across the U.S. and Canada.

Thigpen said the store fills a need in the Evergreen retail scene. “It was needed with Shopko and K-Mart closing,” he said.

The building has been undergoing renovations since November, Thigpen reported. He said it usually takes about 60 days to set up a new Family Dollar location.

The store also hired about a dozen employees, all from the local community.

“They’re all from right here in the neighborhood,” Thigpen said. “A lot of them live within two blocks. It’s good because they can relate to customers.”

Thigpen, who has worked with Family Dollar for almost seven years, said the company makes a point of opening in small communities like Evergreen. “They’re very local and community-oriented,” he said.

He was part of the team that started the Family Dollar store in Big Timber in 2014. “It was the best thing that ever came into town,” Thigpen remembered.

He said customers love Family Dollar for the low prices. He explained the growing chain has the buying power to keep prices down. “People will be shocked at the pricing,” he predicted.

Family Dollar hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.