Dollar stores and drugstores in strip malls would no longer have to keep their windows clear of signs and shelving under changes to the city's convenience store ordinance that go to the City Council at its Wednesday, Oct. 21 briefing.
The proposal, presented by Dallas Police Assistant Chief Teena Schultz, Code Compliance Services Assistant Director Cedric Secoundiata and Assistant City Attorney Matthew Sapp, also rewrites the ordinance's rules on where stores may place automated teller machines. The briefing session starts at 9 a.m. at City Hall.
A new category for 'small box' stores
Chapter 12B of the city code, adopted in 2008, treats any business that mainly sells convenience goods, with or without gasoline, and has "less than 10,000 square feet of retail floor space" as a convenience store. According to the briefing slides, that definition draws no line between a traditional corner store and chains such as CVS, Walgreens, Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree.
Staff say those newer stores are laid out differently, with different counter designs, locked tobacco cases, smart safes and theft-prone goods positioned to protect workers, and that bringing some locations into compliance can mean remodels costing more than $100,000.
The draft adds a "small box discount store" definition: a strip-mall business under 10,000 square feet that mainly sells food, drinks, household goods, grooming and health products and other convenience items, and does not sell gasoline.
Those stores would be exempt from two visibility rules that still apply to other convenience stores: keeping a clear view of the cash register from every window and entrance between three and six feet above the ground, and keeping windows and doors free of signs, ads, shelving and merchandise.
Robbery numbers in the presentation
Police figures in the slides show 461 business robberies in Dallas in 2025. Of those, 82 happened at the small box chains, and 11 of the 82 did not involve shoplifting. Family Dollar locations accounted for 38 of the small box offenses and eight of the non-shoplifting robberies; CVS had 22 and three.
Through Aug. 8 of this year, the slides list 171 business robberies, 34 of them at small box stores and six of those not tied to shoplifting.
