Sneak peek inside the new Mishawaka Costco

Aug. 22--MISHAWAKA -- Walking into Costco feels impressive.

From the steel beams that extend across the ceiling of the giant warehouse to the number of contractors who are building walls, constructing canopies over the store entrances and framing various departments, the build-out is happening fast. Very fast.

Projects this size usually take 180 days or longer.

But Costco is going up in 120 days, or 110 days if you only count the actual construction process after the foundation was poured.

Check out a Tribune photo gallery from inside the construction site.

"We should be enclosed in about three weeks," said Dale Cullivan, the Jackson Dean Construction superintendent of the Mishawaka Costco project on East University Drive. "We broke ground on May 27 and we'll be done by the end of October."

This week, Cullivan gave The Tribune the first tour of the site and a peek inside the store. He offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a process not many have the chance to see.

Heavy machinery and workers everywhere, the activity is constant and the building is ever changing. This is a place where walls are built in hours.

"A week-and-a-half ago, we hadn't even started on the roof. It's going up real quick," said Cullivan. "This is exciting for South Bend-Mishawaka."

Permanent Costco building signage should be in place on the north, south and west sides of the building in the next few weeks, and then Costco furnishings will start arriving so the store can meet its late October target opening.

A tentative opening date has not been announced.

A lot still has to happen between now and then, said Cullivan, who has supervised the construction of about 30 Costco stores. He also supervised the construction of the Fort Wayne location that opened in 2013. Mishawaka and Fort Wayne will mirror one another by featuring the latest store design and layout, he said.

Customers will enter the Costco site from a new lighted intersection located east of the SuperTarget shopping center. Contractors this week are building the canopy above a four-station fuel center that will be located on the west side of the roadway leading into the 19-acre site. Tanks have been placed in underground storage pits at the gas station.

Parking lots will be located north and west of the warehouse store.

The tire center bays are being built out in the front portion of the 153,000-square-foot building, along with management offices and restrooms. The pharmacy and photo departments are being constructed near the front of the store and the checkout aisles will be just inside the main store entrance on the northwest corner.

Seasonal merchandise will likely be located inside the customer entrance near the registers, although Cullivan said Costco will sometimes slightly alter the interior layout in different markets. The south end of the building will contain the meat department, bakery, produce, and frozen foods, where contractors could be seen installing cooler panels this week.

Whether you pass the site at 7 in the morning or 5 in the afternoon, there is usually construction activity happening at Costco six days a week.

Steel and mainframe erection, including the roofing, takes about 45 days to complete. It took about two weeks to pour the flooring, a process that Cullivan said took place at night to accommodate the steady stream of trucks hauling cement.

Costco warehouse manager Greg Eagleton visits the construction site a couple times a day to take photos. He is conveniently located at a small temporary office at the SuperTarget shopping center, where the company's marketing team started meeting with local business owners a couple of weeks ago.

Most of the time, team members are out introducing themselves to local businesses.

"A lot of people in the community already have a real cursory knowledge of Costco," said Eagleton, a California native who most recently worked as an assistant manager at a Columbus, Ohio-area store. "I've seen people drive two hours to do their shopping with us. People here want Costco and that's very exciting. We're ecstatic to be here."

This will be the first store Eagleton is managing, but he has been with the Issaquah, Wash.-based company for about 16 years. His family is relocating to the South Bend area.

"What makes this community intriguing to me is the number of people -- 500,000 in the South Bend area, but how you still have a small town feeling and values," he said. "I'm committed to our culture and core values, which are to provide the very best product at the lowest possible prices, and to take care of our employees, vendors and customers."

Costco will employ more than 200 people and applications are now being accepted online. While the marketing team can assist local businesses and future customers by answering questions at their temporary office, paper job application forms are not available.

Eagleton does not have a timeframe to announce for interviews, but he said he is looking to hire people who exude passion, energy and drive.

A sign hanging from the storefront says Costco employees can make a starting wage of $11.50 per hour. Costco also offers workers health insurance and a 401(k).

"We've had an awful lot of applications for this store," Eagleton said. "But what you hear about how Costco treats its employees is exactly how it is, or even better. Our employees and our members are our future."

___

(c)2014 the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.)

Visit the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.) at www.southbendtribune.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services