Both stores will be in South Anchorage, within blocks of one another, on Abbott Road.

Last fall two other grocery choices came online in the South Anchorage corridor.

Changes to the city's grocery market in a roughly one-mile area include Kmart on Dimond Boulevard adding groceries in October alongside Sam's Club, which recently completed renovations. Sam's Club officials said some merchandise is geared to reach shoppers buying smaller-scale items, not just bulk items.

Kmart converted four existing stores into Super Ks in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau.

In 2002 two other grocery players join that market.

The new Fred Meyer store will open Feb. 20, company officials said. With the opening Fred Meyer marks its fourth Anchorage store and its ninth in Alaska.

The $28.5 million store will total about 170,000 square feet, Fred Meyer officials have said. Features include a gas station and an in-store Starbucks Coffee counter. Portland, Ore.-based Fred Meyer is owned by grocery giant Kroger Co. of Cincinnati.

Plans are under way for Alaska store No. 10 in Eagle River, which could see construction this year. The proposed store would be built at the intersection of the Old Glenn Highway and Northgate Road, just north of downtown Eagle River.

Fred Meyer has received site plan approval from the municipal Planning and Zoning Commission, said Tom Gibbons, Fred Meyer project manager. However, the approval came with conditions needed to comply with the city's "big box" ordinance, which aims to improve the architecture of large retailers.

"We're now working on more detailed drawings," Gibbons said.

Changes include an altered roof line, additional site landscaping and pedestrian walkways that connect to existing bike paths, he said. The drawings would then be resubmitted to city planners. The next step will be completing acquisition of the land and construction start-up, he said.

"We're hopeful to get under construction in late spring or early summer and open early next year," Gibbons said.

Likewise, Safeway, which operates Carrs Quality Centers, is finalizing plans for a new store. The store on Abbott Road in Anchorage will replace the existing store on Dimond Boulevard and the Old Seward Highway, said Glenn Peterson, Safeway district manager.

"I started at that store 27 years ago. It's a great location," he said, but noted that it was too small for current market conditions.

"We needed a 21st century store," he said.

Safeway owns the current Dimond location, but Peterson believes the property is valuable real estate and probably will picked up quickly once the grocery store relocates.

The new store will measure 64,000 square feet, compared with the current store at 40,000 square feet, just slightly smaller than the Huffman Road store in Anchorage, Peterson said.

He did not list a price tag for the new store.

Construction could begin later this year.

"It would be nice to go in the spring and finish up by the holidays," he said.

The location near grocery competitor Fred Meyer may provide some synergism for Carrs, Peterson said.

"The winner is the customer," he added.

Safeway officials presented store drawings to the area's community council, receiving favorable reviews, he recalled.

"It's very upscale looking," he said.

He believes the new Carrs will coordinate with plans for a proposed town center at Abbott Road. The site also will include a gas station and three or four pads in the parking area for additional retail, he said.

Inside, Carrs will feature the same departments although layout might differ from existing stores, he said.