<p>Joann Nuss, right, the official greeter for the grand re-opening of the Warrenton Fred Meyer, welcomes shoppers into the store with coupons and free tote bags Friday morning.</p>

WARRENTON The North Coast Fred Meyer this morning unveiled the finality of its nearly three-year, $18-million, 40,000-square-foot expansion.

The remodel of the cavernous 180,000-square foot store mostly added to the grocery section. Store Manager Justin Downs said that with visitors to the coast, the store can sometimes be the busiest in a district that includes Portland locations.

The remodel uncovered the cement floors, removed false ceilings, punched skylights through the ceiling and added large windows and motion-detecting LED lights to mix technology and nature and save the store on utility costs.

At times, it frustrated customers, who the store routed from far-off parking lots, through temporary entrances and into a game of musical chairs with store departments.

It shut down an entire parking lot, as crews from Seaside-based Bayview Transit Mix tore apart and repaved the northern parking lot along Neptune Drive, adding a new drainage system that will avoid the large puddles of standing water that accumulate in the rainy months.

There was no better time, said Downs about the remodel, timed to mostly occur between the holidays and the summer. We hated doing it, but it was like we had to do it, just to fix that flooding issue.

A hidden benefit to the maelstrom of construction is employment. It provided anywhere between 50 to 100 jobs.

The Warrenton branch, Downs said, employed more than 280 people during summer peak seasons and will now likely top 300 with the expansion.

Fred Meyer, a Portland based grocery company bought by Cincinnati-based Kroger Corp. in 1999, is spending $200 million this year on remodeling stores in Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho.

That includes a $40-million effort improving stores Albany, Tualatin and Warrenton, where Fred Meyer originally opened in 1989 at 142,285 square feet.

Once one of the smaller stores in the district, its now all grown up.