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WinCo won�t open until next year Medford�s newest discount grocer won�t open its new store until after the New Year. According to a spokesman for WinCo Foods, the 24-hour Barnett Road store won�t be ready this fall as originally planned. Michael Read, who works at WinCo�s Boise corporate office, said contractors working on the store fell behind schedule. With construction expected to wrap up near the end of the year, WinCo decided to delay opening the store to avoid staffing shortages during the holiday season, he said. "It�s difficult to hire in that period of time," Read said. He also said it�s tough to pull managers from other stores "away from their families to help with the opening." He said the company plans to hold a grand opening for the Medford store a "few weeks after the New Year." When the store opens, it will feature a florist, a bakery and take-out pizza. To keep prices low, the store offers limited service, asking customers to bag their own groceries. The Barnett Road store would join a handful of 24-hour groceries in the Medford area, including Food 4 Less and Ray�s Food Place. WinCo, a Boise-based chain with 32 stores, expects to employ 225 to 250 people at the Medford store. The company plans to use about 90,000 square feet of the former Kmart building for its grocery, and lease the remaining 25,000 square feet to other retail tenants. It�s been more than three years since WinCo proposed moving into the Kmart building, but lease agreements and a fight with the city over a Barnett traffic signal slowed the project. The city approved the stoplight in June 1998 after WinCo, then Waremart, agreed to pay for the installation. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.