Kroger claims no knowledge of Freddy's plan

SAGLE — What’s on your list today?

If you’re like a number of people in the community, you’re trying to determine whether rumors of Fred Meyer putting a store on U.S. Highway 95 are true.

If you’re Fred Meyer’s parent company, you’re putting a damper on such rumors, at least for now.

Clearing and grading of property at the southeast corner of U.S. 95 and Sagle Road has touched off a conflagration of conjecture about commercial development at the site.

Some are convinced the site is being groomed for grocer and retail chain Fred Meyer, a division of Kroger Co. But Kroger officials claim no knowledge of plans to put a store in Sagle.

“Although we are unaware of plans for future stores in the Sagle area, we do look at real estate opportunities on an ongoing basis and we are always interested in expanding,” Christine Metropulos, a consumer affairs official at Kroger, said in a recent letter that was sent to Sagle Elementary School Principal Don Moore.

The corner property in question has changed hands from one developer to another, and recent site-preparation work has provided an abundance of grist for the rumor mill.

Fred Meyer is not the only company supposedly eyeing the site for a store. A number of other grocery chains are also reportedly contemplating the site.

But if there are impending plans for the site, Bonner County officials aren’t privy to them yet.

“We do not have any active applications for that site,” said Planning Director Clare Marley.

Limited water and sewer utilities have hindered development south of the Pend Oreille River, although utility district and economic development officials are considering plans to join forces in order to surmount the limitations.