WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. No non-grocery posts.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by Super S »

SamSpade wrote:Link to local newspaper article (with Waremart Foods name) with photo:
http://www.argusobserver.com/news/warem ... d0eef.html
I am thinking this may also be a way to not be open 24/7.
I thought they kept the Waremart name in use on another store in Oregon, but do not remember. I wonder if this is a situation much like how there is an occasional Standard name on a Chevron station to keep a trademark alive.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by storewanderer »

Independence, OR is the other Waremart. Smaller store, not open 24 hours.

I hope to see them enter more small towns. Their format is really needed... between disgustingly overpriced poorly run Safeway and the just not a very good grocer and not too sharply priced Wal Marts that dominate too many small towns, a small format WinCo with sharp pricing and a respectful perishable offering would really be great. Historically Safeway was a good operator for these small towns but the lifestyle program was not right for the small towns and that was when their pricing got very out of hand too.

I will be curious to see how they handle their upcoming expansion in Oklahoma. So many underserved small towns where Wal Mart is truly the best grocery option...
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1568
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by SamSpade »

Still working on this one - they have the Waremart sign up (Waremart by WinCo Foods) and a door cut in the building but that part of the parking lot well blocked off. There will be open space between them and Harbor Freight.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by storewanderer »

I heard they are also building a Waremart somewhere in SoCal.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote:Independence, OR is the other Waremart. Smaller store, not open 24 hours.

I hope to see them enter more small towns. Their format is really needed... between disgustingly overpriced poorly run Safeway and the just not a very good grocer and not too sharply priced Wal Marts that dominate too many small towns, a small format WinCo with sharp pricing and a respectful perishable offering would really be great. Historically Safeway was a good operator for these small towns but the lifestyle program was not right for the small towns and that was when their pricing got very out of hand too.

I will be curious to see how they handle their upcoming expansion in Oklahoma. So many underserved small towns where Wal Mart is truly the best grocery option...
The Safeway experience in small towns varies greatly. There are some towns (where Safeway is the only major grocer) where they have invested in new, full service stores. And other towns such as Clatskanie, Oregon which have received Lifestyle signage and interior repainting, but lack a bakery, deli, AND pharmacy. Not sure if WinCo/Waremart would be a good fit in those situations , but I will say that some independent stores in smaller towns (where they are the only major grocer) seem to be a lot busier than chain stores in that same situation.

WinCo would have no problem competing head-on with Walmart though....
Brian Lutz
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1425
Joined: March 1st, 2009, 5:51 pm
Location: Piedmont Triad, NC
Been thanked: 56 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by Brian Lutz »

pseudo3d wrote:It might be that the landlord decided a lease too high for WinCo to move into all of it and want some of it to be used for an alternate tenant. Since Kmart stores usually become oversized empty plots, I'm surprised that WinCo isn't filling all of it or most of it.
This happened when Walmart opened up their Neighborhood Market store in Bellevue in roughly half of a long-vacant Kmart store, with an LA Fitness health club taking the other half. The Kmart opened around 1969, closed in 2001, and wasn't reoccupied until 2014. Costco was once rumored to be interested in the former Kmart, but a severely restrictive zoning ordinance related to a stream running through a culvert underneath the property scared them off. Ultimately the City of Bellevue had to make a zoning variance to allow the property to be redeveloped. Oddly enough, there would have been plenty of space for a full sized Walmart store (probably not a supercenter, but at least a decent sized store) but they opted to make this one a Neighborhood Market, and opened a rather small (~40k SF) Walmart store in a former Mervyn's in Factoria Mall a few miles away. I'm guessing that either the property owners wanted too much for Walmart to take the entire space, or Walmart wanted to be able to cut their losses if the store didn't work out (and given the fact that the Neighborhood Market store is run pretty terribly even by Walmart standards I wouldn't be surprised if it did go down the tubes.)
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1568
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by SamSpade »

I'm not sure how we missed this, but this store opened in March of 2017. Looks just like a WinCo except for the funky KMart drop ceiling complete with those big air movers. No bakery or deli at all apparently based on Google comments, but well reviewed.

https://goo.gl/maps/TRF1F35S4rM2

The store in Keizer, OR hasn't opened yet.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by Super S »

I do find it odd that they left empty space in the middle of the building, complete with the facade of the old Kmart intact. I would think that they would want to re-do that to make it more attractive to prospective tenants. The Waremart actually looks smaller than I thought it would be.

I also find it odd that the store lacks bakery and deli departments. Especially when the competition has them. Perhaps there is an option to eventually expand into the empty space. I think they are "testing the waters" here for future expansion, not just Ontario but potentially other areas in eastern Oregon where a smaller store would make more sense.
Brian Lutz
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1425
Joined: March 1st, 2009, 5:51 pm
Location: Piedmont Triad, NC
Been thanked: 56 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by Brian Lutz »

When Walmart moved into Bellevue a few years ago, they took about half of an old Kmart store that had long been vacant (although an unfavorable zoning situation
resulting from a stream running under the property was probably the main culprit there) and opened a Neighborhood Market store. They probably had plenty of space to open a full line store (if not a small supercenter) if they leased the whole building, but instead of doing that they opened a second small store a few miles away at a former Mervyn's location. The rest of the former Kmart got turned into a health club.

I wonder if there was a similar situation there where the property owners wanted too much for the whole space?
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: WinCo moving into former Kmart in Ontario, Oregon

Post by storewanderer »

I went into this store. At first it came off okay. Bulk foods in particular felt just as large as a normal Winco. Produce was smaller but seemed big enough. Meat was kind of smashed in the back corner.

The lack of a bakery and deli was a definine negative. The product mix in the aisles is so much less than a usual Winco. Another weird thing was the shelf tags were all white tags, so it was unclear what is a sale price and what is a regular price. Whatever the prices were, they were great, just as good as a normal Winco.

I went in expecting the mix of a big Winco which was not realistic on my part given the smaller space.

The store was not terribly busy when I went in, but had traffic. The Walmart across the road was much busier, even on the grocery side. The Albertsons and independent (Red Apple which appears to be a very remodeled former Safeway marina) were both not busy at all. Albertsons next to a deserted mall seems to be in a bit of a bad spot just by virtue of location. The independent was actually the slightly busier compared to the Albertsons when I was there, but transactions seemed smaller. It will be interesting to see what happens because right now Ontario seems to be over stored.
Post Reply