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Eagle has new name; Home Depot seeks site By David Preszler Medford�s largest hardware and home store has a new name, while its chief national rival is still searching the area for a place to build a store. Eagle Hardware & Garden officially changed its name to Lowe�s Home Improvement Warehouse on Tuesday. The old sign came down and new one when up. Lowe�s, the nation�s second largest hardware chain behind Home Depot, bought Eagle in November 1998. Since then, the company has been phasing out the Eagle name and phasing in the Lowe�s brand. "We are in the process of converting all the Eagle stores, starting with the ones in California and working our way up," company spokesman Brian Peace said. Eagle is heavily concentrated in the Seattle area and had a particularly strong brand presence there, so the company is starting the conversions in the areas where the brand isn�t quite as established. Meanwhile, Home Depot is once again searching the Rogue Valley for a spot to build a store. "We would be thrilled to build a store in Medford but we haven�t been able to find a large enough commercially zoned property to meet our needs," said company spokesman Chuck Sifuentes. He said the company has looked at sites that are zoned for industrial use but believes it may prove difficult to get those rezoned. Potential sites have included land near the airport and Costco area and near South Gateway Shopping Center, according to city officials. City Manager Michael Dyal said he�s met with Home Depot representatives but that the company has made no firm commitment to bring its retail chain to Medford. "They have enough interest that they�ve met with me but I�m not aware if they�ve made an offer on any land," Dyal said. Mark Gallagher of the Medford Planning Department said the company has contacted the city steadily over the past several years to inquire about land. Most recently, it inquired about industrial land that would have to be rezoned. While the city would consider a zone change, Gallagher noted that city officials would have to consider factors such as added traffic and the supply of industrial land. "Right now, it�s hard to get a zone change that will generate that much more traffic," he said. Commercial uses such as a store generally create more traffic than industrial users such as a manufacturing plant. And the city has only so much industrial land. One of the elements of its comprehensive land-use plan is a directive to maintain a supply of industrial land. From an economic development standpoint, industrial uses generally create better paying jobs than retail uses. Home Depot can apply for a zone change, but those issues would have to be addressed. "If they want to submit an application, they can do that," Dyal says. "But it would mean a reduction in industrial zoned land that we�d like to keep." Though the arrival of a Home Depot would challenge Lowe�s for market share here, Lowe�s isn�t too concerned about the possible arrival of its rival. "We compete head-to-head with Home Depot in most markets," says Peace. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA