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Two more board members are resigning from online travel firm YTB International, according to the Wood River-based company’s proxy statement.

Clay Winfield, a Madison County developer, resigned last Thursday. And Dr. Timothy Kaiser, an Alton physician, will not seek re-election at the company’s annual shareholders meeting next month.

The two were principal shareholders in Meridian Bank, which was taken over by federal regulators in October and, according to regulatory filings, had lent money to YTB, including a $2.5 million loan to build its Wood River headquarters. The two also owned a company that rented and later sold office buildings in Edwardsville to YTB, and a second company that sold YTB a private jet. Winfield is also co-owner of the construction company that is building YTB’s new headquarters, which has received at least $6.4 million for the job.

The move comes weeks after a statement from YTB’s independent auditor criticizing the company’s internal financial controls 1 hour cash advance. It said the board had too little control over management spending and that executives had signed contracts without proper board approval. In its filing last week, YTB also said it will shift business away from an Indiana printing company owned by its top executives that did $3.4 million in YTB business last year.

Two other board members have resigned since YTB was sued in August by the California attorney general’s office, a case that is still in court. Winfield and Kaiser’s departure will leave YTB with seven directors, including its three top executives, and four empty seats on the board.

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Wal-Mart may have become the premier place to shop for Americans struggling through a recession, but the giant chain has competition nipping at its heels.

The nation’s dollar stores, those once-dowdy chains that lured shoppers by selling some or all of their merchandise for $1, are suddenly hot. They are busily opening new stores, outfitting existing stores with refrigerators and freezers, and sprucing up their aisles with better lighting, fresh paint and new signs.

And while most big chains are closing stores and radically cutting back on new outlets, dollar chains are planning to open hundreds of stores this year in some of the best locations to which they have ever had access.

Dollar stores have long had a reputation for being down-at-the-heels places to buy cheap, generic goods. While keeping their low prices, they are revamping their image and climbing the respectability ladder — in some cases into the Fortune 500.

Dollar General, long one of the 500 biggest American companies, appears on this year’s list at No. 259, up 15 places payday cash advances. And Dollar Tree landed on the list for the first time, at No. 499. Those rankings are a far cry from Wal-Mart, which holds the No. 2 position behind Exxon Mobil, but some dollar chains these days are growing faster than Wal-Mart.

Of the nation’s three major dollar chains, Family Dollar and Dollar General sell many items for about $1 along with others that costs more. Over the last year, another chain, Dollar Tree, tried selling items in some stores for more than $1, but sales were not impressive. So Dollar Tree is back to being a dollar purist.

What the three have in common is strong sales growth in their most recent reporting periods — a feat in this economy, where most chains are posting declines.

Stacey Widlitz, a retailing analyst with Pali Research, summarized the dollar-store success story: "They’re killing it because consumers are trading down."

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