Nearly two years after it was announced, work on a new Fred Meyer store in Palmer is moving ahead.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new store is scheduled for Wednesday. A corporate spokesperson said she expected the store to open in March 2017 if everything goes as planned.
Palmer's new Fred Meyer isn't its first. The new store is located on the other side of the Glenn Highway from the location Fred Meyer opened about a dozen years ago in downtown Palmer.
Fred Meyer isn't the only retailer that outgrew space in Palmer. A Carrs shopping center used to stand in the empty lot where the new store is under construction. A new Carrs store went up across Palmer-Wasilla Highway.
The Palmer store is the smallest in Fred Meyer's network at 66,000 square feet. Wasilla's is nearly 169,000 square feet. The new Palmer store will measure 137,000 square feet and add about 100 jobs, a corporate spokesperson said.
There's no word yet on what business may move into the space Fred Meyer will be vacating.