Fred Meyer Stores Inc., of Portland, has started construction of a two-story, $20 million retail outlet at the southwest corner of Third Avenue and Thor Street in east central Spokane.


Rob Boley, Portland-based spokesman for Fred Meyer, says the company hopes to open the store, which will be its fifth in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene area, by next fall.


Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the general contractor for the project. The outlet is being constructed on an about eight-acre site thats bordered by Third to the north, Thor to the east, Fifth Avenue to the south, and Ray Street to the west.


The store will include a total of 140,000 square feet of floor space, with 105,000 square feet of space on the first floor and a 35,000-square-foot second level. Departments expected to be located on the first floor include groceries, jewelry, home electronics, gardening, home improvement, and sporting goods, Boley says. The second level, which will be connected to the first by elevators and escalators, will house apparel and cosmetics, he says.


A small retail space will be available for lease inside the outlet, but no other leasable retail spaces will be included in the project, Boley says. The company hasnt targeted a specific type of user for the interior space yet.


The new store will be slightly larger than the Fred Meyer store at 525 E. Francis on Spokanes North Side, but smaller than the stores at 15609 E. Sprague in the Spokane Valley and 12120 N. Division north of Spokane, Boley says. All three of those stores and a Fred Meyer outlet in Coeur dAlene are one level. Fred Meyer has two-story outlets in other cities, though none of them are designed like the one planned here, Boley says.