Dollar General clerk Gabrielle Simmons is one of those victims. She was shot to death during a robbery in 2017, right after she complied with the robber's demand that she stuff a bag with cash.
Shoppers looking for discounts love dollar stores, where they can often find brand-name items at heavy discounts.
Popular dollar store chains such as Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree have also become the site of sudden and at times fatal acts of violence.
Dollar General clerk Gabrielle Simmons is one of those victims. She was shot to death during a robbery in 2017, right after she complied with the robber's demand that she stuff a bag with cash.
In Alabama, two men attempted to rob a Dollar General with machetes — and they have yet to be caught.
And in New Jersey, police opened fire on a disgruntled customer outside a Dollar General after he allegedly drew his gun.
Close to 400 people were injured and 149 people have been killed at dollar store chains since 2014, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Now, workers at these stores are taking a stand after incidents like the death of Gabrielle, described by one friend as "a loving mother, a caring friend, an awesome person."
Jenin Ferrond tells Inside Edition that her friend Gabrielle "had a heart like no other," and criticizes her employer for not doing more to protect her from violence.
"Corporations like Dollar General didn't think it was important enough to go ahead and put security in there because they didn't think the neighborhood was worth it," says Jenin.
Kenya Slaughter, a former Dollar General assistant manager, is also speaking out.
"Why do we have to go and protest? Why do we have to talk to Inside Edition? They need to be held accountable," says Kenya. "People are getting robbed at gunpoint every other day. The stores are unsafe. That's why it's happening. Period."
"We care deeply about our associates and the communities we serve. Safety is a top priority for Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, and we work in close partnership with local authorities and law enforcement to implement best practices," said a spokesperson in a statement to Inside Edition. "As the retail industry experiences an escalation in violence and crime, we have been working diligently to implement enhanced safety policies, procedures and training to protect our more than 200,000 associates who build their careers with us and the more than 100 million customers who rely on us for the essentials they need."
That spokesperson went on to say that new safety plans are being put in place, including "de-escalation training, how to respond in an emergency and workplace violence prevention."
"Additional measures we’ve taken include making sure we have the right staffing levels, enhanced security protocols, and investing in our stores by adding roll-down gates, upgraded lighting and smart safe technologies," said the spokesperson. "Along with these actions, we also employ additional strategies that we don’t share publicly to avoid compromising their effectiveness."
A spokesperson for Dollar General also responded to Inside Edition, saying: "Dollar General is not the cause of violent crime. Unfortunately, because of our scale and like most other retailers, we are not immune to acts of violence, including gun violence. The vast majority of incidents contained in the GVA database did not occur within a Dollar General store, but rather in its vicinity, and have no connection to our business other than proximity. However, even according to this database, and despite the fact that we are located within 5 miles of approximately 75% of the U.S. population, gun-related incidents have occurred in and around less than ~2% of our nearly 20,000 stores since 2014."
