Bessemer, Alabama, is about to gain several hundred jobs thanks to a new, multi-million dollar distribution center that will be built there by retail conglomerate Dollar General, a Fortune 500 company. Bessemer is a suburb of Birmingham, which is the largest city in Alabama with a population of over a quarter of a million people, and the Birmingham metropolitan area is home to over one million people.

The proposed center will cost about $60 million dollars and create jobs for as many as 650 people. This is part of a major expansion undertaken by Dollar General in recent years – in the beginning of 2010, the company also announced plans to open 600 new stores and hire 5000 workers. Opening a major new distribution center in Alabama shows the seriousness of Dollar General’s attempts to expand their retail operations in the South.

Dollar General stores operate in 35 states, and occupy roughly the same niche as Rite-Aid and Walgreens, aside from the fact that they don’t contain prescription pharmacies.  The expansion of the chain will serve to bring the residents of the Birmingham area low-cost general merchandise, and stimulate the local economy. Alabama auto transport, grocery and frozen shipping industries are likely to get busier as a result.