ENTERPRISE The former Food City grocery store on S. River Street was reopened today by new owners as the Dollar Stretcher.

Mike Goss and Ron Goebel, both of Wallowa, will be operating what they call "value-based" merchandising, patterned after a store that Goss managed in Homer, Alaska.

Goods stacked on pallets on bare concrete floor make for a warehouse appearance similar to Island City’s Shop’n Kart, which Goss managed a decade ago.

The no-frill approach such as customers carrying their purchases out of the store themselves should help keep prices low.

During a five-month remodel, old store fixtures and equipment were replaced, and scanners installed for a quick checkout.

Dollar Stretcher includes an assortment of more than 6,000 items, Goss said. The retail space was doubled to 10,000 square feet. The entrance is now in the rear of the building next to a new 10,000-square-foot parking lot.

Produce and meat sections were expanded and a walk-in cooler now stretches across the building’s south end.

In addition to groceries, Dollar Stretcher will offer automotive products, office supplies and electronics such as television sets.

Nearly 800 items will come from the Lewiston, Idaho, Costco. Former Costco comptroller Myron Kirkpatrick spent a lot of time helping Goss and Goebel develop their business plan.

Kirkpatrick is the business facilitator for the Wallowa County Business Facilitation group that provides free business development consultation.

Kirkpatrick met with the partners numerous times in long sessions and was "absolutely instrumental in putting this together," Goss said.

Dollar Stretcher will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

Gary Fletcher