Hot on the heels of welcoming a new Wendy's Restaurant, the Village of Coal Grove will become home to a new dollar store franchise later this fall.

A national chain of dollar stores will open a location in an 8,000 square foot site that will border State Route 243 and U.S. 52. An official announcement on the particular franchise will be made as soon as the lease is finalized, said Tony Coriell, chief financial officer for J.W. Witten Investments.

Site work began in May, and the store should be open by late fall, he said.

In July 2002, J.W. Witten Investments, out of Houston and Flatwoods, Ky., bought 15-plus acres of property in Coal Grove.

Only about four acres of the property is clear from the right-of-ways of the roads. The company is in the process of developing about one acre for retail space that could accommodate two businesses, Coriell said.

Midwest Construction Services of Catlettsburg, Ky., is the general contractor on the project.

The cost of the project has not been finalized because the second tenant has not been identified.

The investment company will seek another tenant or tenants that could use up to 6,000 square feet of retail space, Coriell said.

Because the particular dollar store franchise has not been announced, it is still unknown exactly how many jobs the business will create, he said.

Mayor Tom McKnight is excited about the second new business that will open this year.

"It is tremendous," he said. "It is going to mean so much to the village, especially since Boyd County, Ky., pass that 1-percent payroll tax. This will fill in part of that gap."

After meeting with representatives for the development company more than three years ago, McKnight said he thought the company had given up on the project until he recently got a call.

Any new jobs and revenue is a great benefit for the village, the mayor said.

"We appreciate all the older businesses, but we always like to have new businesses," he said. "It means progress in the village."

Interested clients can contact Coriell at (606) 836-9641.