WinCo Foods stays the course, begins Bend store construction

Discount grocery store will replace the old Shopko along Highway 97 in Bend

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Construction of Bend's new WinCo Foods officially began this week. The new grocery store will fill the 100,000-square-foot building that Shopko closed early last year, after filing for bankruptcy.

WinCo's remodeling will add new flooring and renovate the store's parking lot and storefront.

WinCo Foods has been planning to move into the location on Highway 97 in Bend since last September. But the economic blow of COVID-19 prompted worries among many fans of the discount grocery chain that they might not stay the course.

"From an economic development perspective, this is exciting," Ben Hemson, a business advocate for the city, said Tuesday. "We are in some fairly uncertain times right now, so having construction crews working and the prospect of a popular store here in town, those are all good things for our community when we are facing a lot of uncertainty."

Hemson said the city has received a number of calls from excited residents since the announcement.

WinCo Foods, known for its low prices, is a warehouse-type grocery store chain with more than 125 stores on the West Coast. The store hopes to open at the end of this year, in November or December.