Business Focus: Valley Fred Meyer first in area to add gas station

Retailer Fred Meyer opened a fuel station at its Spokane Valley store, the chain’s first Inland Northwest push into the discount gasoline and diesel market.

The new filling station is on 5,000 square feet along the southern edge of the Valley store’s parking lot at Sprague Avenue and Sullivan Road. Total investment was about $1 million, company officials said, and the station opened Dec. 20.

“We’re all about the one-stop shopping, so it’s another convenience for our customers,” Fred Meyer spokeswoman Melinda Merrill said.

The 24-hour fuel center is the 42nd station the retailer has opened since re-entering the fuel business in 2000, starting with its Fairbanks, Alaska, store. The Portland-based chain, a division of Ohio-based The Kroger Co., has 128 stores across its four-state region of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

The company evaluated several factors before choosing its Spokane Valley store for its newest fuel center.

“We have a formula that everything has to meet, and it includes the space, the community and the business environment,” said Merrill. The project took about three years, from planning to completion.

None of the other four Fred Meyer stores in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area is scheduled to have a fuel center, but that could change.

“I know they’re working on it, but there’s nothing concrete right now,” Merrill said, adding that first and foremost there has to be available land. “We’re always looking for opportunity.”

Fred Meyer sells nonbranded fuel, and the Valley location also includes a kiosk attended from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., so customers can purchase items such as maps and candy bars.

Valley store director Steve Valentine says he’s pleased with customer response, noting fuel is competitively priced and loyal customers can earn discounts of 3 cents to 15 cents per gallon.

Simply having the Fred Meyer no-fee rewards card entitles customers to 3 cents off per gallon of fuel, Valentine said. Customers at the pump must scan their rewards card – a card that also must be scanned at registers with every purchase to earn customers the benefits of quarterly store coupons via mail.

The fuel discount climbs to 10 cents per gallon for a one-time, one-vehicle fill up each time a rewards card customer’s spending reaches $100 at any Fred Meyer store. Up-to-date totals – noted as “fuel rewards” – are listed on sales receipts along with expiration dates.

The highest discount of 15 cents per gallon is available to customers who use a Fred Meyer MasterCard, calculated the same way with a one-time fill-up discounted for every $100 spent at the store.