January 5, 2023 3:50 a.m. 

In the KQEN Business Spotlight:

Demolition of the former Kmart building on Northwest Stewart Parkway in Roseburg is slated to begin soon as the process that will lead to a WinCo Foods grocery store is ramping up.

Greg Goins, Vice-President of Real Estate for Winco Foods LLC told News Radio 93-9 FM and 1240 KQEN that preliminary activities began this week at the site. On Wednesday, fencing around the property was already being put in place and a construction site trailer was parked next to Stewart Parkway, near the traffic signal between the property and CHI Mercy Medical Center.

Its been a long process for the development. An application for a site plan review was submitted to the City of Roseburg Community Development Department in March of 2021. That was after a pre-application conference in November of 2020. A building permit was obtained from the Douglas County Building Department last month. It followed getting a site review permit from the City of Roseburg in October.

WinCo plans to construct a nearly 73,000 square foot building to replace the long-vacant Kmart building, which is 88,000 square feet. Previous reports have said that it will take about a year to complete the store, once construction is underway.

WinCo is based in Boise, Idaho with its origins dating back to 1967. There are over 130 locations and more than 20,000 employees for the company, which is owned by those workers.

When the store is eventually opened, that section of Stewart Parkway will be home to four large grocery stores, including Albertson’s, Sherm’s Thunderbird Market, and Walmart.

Pictures from site are posted at www.541radio.com