Long-Planned WinCo Foods Will Replace Watt Avenue Gottschalks

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A long-abandoned department store on Watt Avenue is about to be reinvented.

The old Gottschalks building on Watt Avenue near El Camino Avenue will become a WinCo Foods after a project that's been in the works for years.

The demolition is just getting started, but why has this project that's been rumored for years taken so long?

"I guess it was just negotiations. There was a different owner at the beginning and then we have new ownership and they're really aggressive," said Seth Pearl, Country Club Plaza shopping center operations manager.

Another wrinkle that was ironed out was that stores in the plaza wanted WinCo to guarantee an inside entrance in addition to the front of the store, so the place could start seeing more foot traffic.

The WinCo should be open by next summer.