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WinCo plans to open by summer Road to Medford store smooths out By DAVID PRESZLER The wait for a 24-hour grocery store to open in the former Kmart building appears to be winding down. WinCo Foods -- formerly Waremart Inc. -- hopes to sign a lease next week and open its store early next summer, according to Gordon Davis, a Portland consultant working for the Boise, Idaho-based company. Waremart proposed leasing the south Medford building more than two years ago, starting what's proved to be a winding journey. The largest hurdle -- the company's desire for a traffic signal at the entrance to Barnett Road -- has essentially been cleared. A $750,000 traffic project, paid for by the company and the property owner, is two to three weeks from completion, though the stoplight isn't expected to begin operating until late this year. The most recent curves in WinCo's path have come in finalizing the lease. A lease was actually signed several months ago, Davis said. However, a number of unexpected legal issues -- previously granted easements and remnants of older leases -- arose during the title search, so the two sides agreed to discard that lease until the issues could be sorted through. Davis said the lawyers have cleared up most of them and are drafting the final documents, which will likely by signed next week. Despite the delays, WinCo has begun designing the interior of the building. "This is not a standard building for WinCo," Davis said. "They typically build from scratch." The grocery chain plans to occupy about 90,000 of the building's 115,000 square feet, with other retail tenants expected to fill the remainder. Davis said the company will spend the next few months completing the interior and exterior designs and hopes to get building permits from the city in March or April. Since the changes to the exterior will be largely cosmetic, the project isn't expected to require public review. Davis said construction could begin almost immediately, since the remodeling work won't be as affected by the weather as new construction can be. When it does open, the WinCo store will feature a florist, a bakery and take-out pizza. To keep prices low, Davis said the store offers limited service, asking customers to bag their own groceries. "WinCo is an extremely high-volume store and a lower-priced store," Davis said. The company changed the name of its Waremart and Cub Foods stores to WinCo to avoid confusion with Wal- Mart, Bi-Mart, Kmart and the like. It has more than 30 WinCo stores, including locations in Eugene and Redding, Calif. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA