(VIRGINIE LEFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)
Dollar General stores across the country and here in East Tennessee will add cigarettes and tobacco products next year.
The company is citing "competitive pressures" and a perceived customer demand for the move. Family Dollar stores, a key Dollar General competitor, began adding cigarettes to its stores last year.
Dollar General says adding tobacco will drive additional traffic, and it says about a third of its customers are smokers.
Tobacco should be in all stores by the middle of 2013.