ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — Demolition of the former Gulf Coasts Media offices at 21765 Media Drive in Robertsdale began Monday with a Dollar Tree set to open at that location in January 2017.

Josh Dike, superintendent of construction for TerMac Construction Inc. of Mobile said the company has a 135-day contract for demolition and construction of the new 9,500 square-foot facility, which is set to open in January, according to officials with Dollar Tree.

“Anytime you can get commercial development into the area it can only help the residents of our community,” said Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy, adding that the new Dollar Tree store is part of $15 million in commercial development to come to the area in the last four years.

“It just shows that the corporate world sees Robertsdale and the surrounding area as a viable asset for them,” Murphy said, “and it’s going to be positive.”

Built in the mid-1980s, the building served as the center for printing and business operations for the Gulf Coast Media Group, later known as Gulf Coast Newspapers, at one time printing eight weekly and twice-weekly newspapers in Baldwin County, along with commercial contract printing operations.

The newspaper operations were purchased in 2014 by family-owned-and-operated Osteen Publishing, based in Sumter, South Carolina, which contracted out the printing operation in December of that year.

Local operations returned to the name Gulf Coast Media and all of the Baldwin County offices were moved to a centralized location at 901 N. McKenzie St. in Foley in June of last year. GCM currently operates four weekly newspapers, The Onlooker, serving north, central and south Baldwin County, The Islander, serving Pleasure Island, and The Courier, serving the Eastern Shore, published every Wednesday; along with the county-wide Friday publication, The Baldwin Times.

Based in Chesapeake, Virginia, Dollar Tree first opened as Only $1.00 with just five stores in 1986, adopting the Dollar Tree name in 1993 before going public on the NASDAQ exchange in 1995.

Dollar Tree opened its 5,000th store in 2014 and, following the acquisition of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Family Dollar in 2015, the Fortune 500 Company now operates more than 13,600 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces.

Locally, Dollar Tree operates stores in Bay Minette, Foley, Fairhope, Daphne and Gulf Shores, with Family Dollar stores in Loxley, Foley, Magnolia Springs, Lillian and Gulf Shores. For more information visit dollartree.com.