WinCo Arrives…?

Winco Foods is moving into the old Kmart location at 24th and Central.  That's the plan anyway.  The company filed plans Monday with the city's Building Division for permits to build the store.  Their plan is to tear down the old Kmart building and construct a entirely new store, more than 88,000 square feet.  WinCo Foods is an employee-owned company with 113 stores across the Northwest, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.  According to the Billings Gazette, in the mid-1970's a Waremart (former name of WinCo) occupied a space to the south of Kmart in Billings.  When Waremart closed, Kmart expanded into that space.  That jogged my memory and I do remember a grocery store in that location.  WinCo Foods did show interest in building in Montana before.  In 2016 plans were scrapped for Bozeman citing city design requirements.  The company also had thoughts of building in Helena but those plans were put on hold before the permitting process began.  Winco has paid a $10,000 fee for building permits in Billings, so...