Fred Meyer Stores Inc. is preparing to roll out its online shopping service this summer at its East Central Spokane store, says Zach Stratton, Seattle-based Fred Meyer spokesman.

The Portland-based superstore chain introduced the ClickList service earlier at its Spokane Valley and Coeur d’Alene stores as part of major remodels there.

To provide the service at the East Central store, at 400 S. Thor, Fred Meyer is creating a staging area where online orders will be processed, including new walk-in coolers, reach-in freezers, and a drive-up area, Stratton says.

Through ClickList, customers can order grocery items online and schedule a time to pick them up. Where ClickList already is available, the service recently started offering a same-day option in which customers can place an order in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon.

When ClickList customers arrive at the store’s drive-up area, an associate greets them and loads the items into the customer’s vehicle.

Most dry, refrigerated, and frozen food items are available through the ClickList service, including fresh produce and meats, Stratton says.

“You can even say you want four bananas, and you want two of them to be yellow and two of them green,” he says.

Stratton says customers’ rewards accounts keep track of their purchases to help compile shopping lists, which is intended to ease shopping for routine items.

The ClickList fee is $5 per order, though Stratton says the company is offering the first three orders per customer free of charge. 

Stratton says stores that offer the service have two ClickList managers and about 10 hourly employees whose sole job is to fill orders and bring them out to customers.

Stratton says the ClickList service has been well received at its Spokane Valley and Coeur d’Alene stores.

“It’s great for people with younger children and for elderly people, because they don’t have to get out of their vehicles,” he says. 

Stratton says Fred Meyer will introduce ClickList at 35 to 40 of its stores this year. 

Last fall, the company invested $22 million in converting the four Fred Meyer stores in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area into a new model, with plans to roll out that model nationwide.

Fred Meyer operates more than 130 stores in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska. The retail chain is a subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., which operates several grocery store and superstore brands nationwide.