A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 5 at 203 E Tower Ln. That's the new south Meridian Costco, at the southeast corner of Meridian and Lake Hazel roads, just north of the Kuna city line. Two weeks out, the store is close to done. Grocery Outlet opened across from Ridley's in May. WinCo has taken the first step toward a store a mile down the road. Each of these sits on Meridian Road or just off it, and that changes how a weekly grocery trip from Kuna works.
The old math was a 40-minute round trip
Until this year, the budget option meant leaving town. Kuna resident Serenity Gorrell told Idaho News 6 in April that cheaper groceries meant driving "all the way down Meridian Road, which is like 20 minutes and 20 minutes back," and that with kids, "it's not really like something you love doing all the time." She described Ridley's and Albertsons as "the only things out here."
Others gave the same picture. Jen Halladay told Idaho News 6 that her Costco runs go to the Boise warehouse, about 10 miles each way. Tina Carns lives off Columbia Road. She told the station in September that she drives across the interstate to Meridian or Boise for groceries, "at least 15 minutes" away. Jason Wormington, who lives near downtown Kuna, put it this way: "You've gotta basically drive all the way to Meridian, Overland, to get food from Walmart, WinCo stuff like that."
That's the baseline. The changes this year mean the destinations those residents named are getting closer.
Every new address lands on or beside the same road
Put this year's grocery news on a map and it lines up along Meridian Road, which is also State Highway 69. The new stores aren't spread around Kuna. Costco and the proposed WinCo sit at Meridian Road intersections, and Grocery Outlet is on Deer Flat Road, across from Ridley's on Meridian Road.
| Stop | Location | Status as of late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Costco | 203 E Tower Ln, Meridian and Lake Hazel roads | Scheduled to open Nov. 5 |
| WinCo Foods | Meridian and Columbia roads | Pre-application stage, no timeline |
| Grocery Outlet | 1350 E. Deer Flat Rd, across from Ridley's | Opened in May |
| Ridley's Family Market | 1403 N Meridian Rd | Open |
| Reed's Dairy | 1353 N Meridian Rd | Open |
The Costco is the biggest piece. The Idaho Statesman describes it as the Treasure Valley's fourth and largest Costco. It's a roughly 200,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center on a 24-acre site, with a 900-stall parking lot and a 16-pump gas station. It sits inside Pinnacle, an 800-acre master-planned development by Brighton Corp. Brighton's president of development, Jon Wardle, told the Statesman that seven more commercial buildings, plus homes and apartments, are planned for the roughly 130 acres around the warehouse. Costco's warehouse page has not posted store or gas hours yet.
Grocery Outlet came first. The Kuna store opened in May at 1350 E. Deer Flat Rd. The Idaho Press reported that it's run by independent owners Brandon and Julia Mansfield. Before it opened, some Kuna shoppers drove to the Grocery Outlet on Ten Mile Road for its deals. Kim and Dave Dornbush told Idaho News 6 they had made that drive for the fish and some of the produce.
WinCo is the least settled of the three. City of Kuna planning officials told Idaho News 6 in September that the grocer had asked for a pre-application meeting, the first step where a company tells the city what it would like to build. Documents submitted to the city show a proposed store at Meridian and Columbia roads, and WinCo had not given a timeline. For now it's a proposal. If it gets built, Carns said, "We'll be walking distance to WinCo and Costco."
A shorter drive on a busier road
When the stores cluster on one road, the trips do too, and the road is being rebuilt with that in mind. New traffic signals now stand at the Costco development's two entrances, one on Meridian Road and one on Lake Hazel Road. The Statesman reported that Brighton is widening the east side of Meridian Road between Lake Hazel and Columbia, and plans to widen the west side too. That would make the roughly one-mile segment a seven-lane highway. The same story cites an Idaho Transportation Department projection of a 55% increase in traffic over the next 25 years on five miles of the highway, including the stretch where Costco is opening.
Residents have already said what that feels like. Carns told Idaho News 6 that "Meridian Road is now a main thoroughfare going down to Kuna." Halladay expects traffic to pick up once Costco opens. Her plan is to "time it so you don't have to be in it." Gorrell said that in April she sat at the stop sign by the baseball fields for 20 minutes, and that the train through town makes the line longer.
For a Kuna household, the trip that used to be measured in distance is now measured in timing. Costco, a possible WinCo and the Deer Flat cluster all sit within reach of one drive up the highway. Whether that drive takes five minutes or twenty depends on when you leave and which signals you hit, especially around Nov. 5.
The stops that stay in the routine
The big stores take care of bulk buys and discounts. The rest of Kuna's food shopping happens in town or off the highway, at places the new stores don't replace.
Ridley's Family Market at 1403 N Meridian Rd shares a storefront with an Ace Hardware. When Idaho News 6 asked shoppers in April about the new stores, the Dornbushes said Ridley's would stay their store. "We know the produce manager. We always say 'hi' to him. If he has a sale, he tells us about it," Kim Dornbush said. If she stopped shopping there, she added, "I would miss my friends here."
Reed's Dairy sits just down the block at 1353 N Meridian Rd. The company has been family-owned since 1955. The Kuna shop serves scoops and milkshakes and sells half-gallons to take home.
Albertsons at 700 E Avalon St lists bakery, deli, butcher-block meat and seafood, and produce departments.
Vogel Farms Country Market at 9501 Robinson Rd is the in-town source for farm-direct meat. It sells farm-raised beef, pork, chicken and turkey, plus eggs, milk, cheese, seasonal produce, baked goods and take-and-bake entrees. The meat is cut and wrapped locally by Meridian Meat & Sausage or Meridian Meat Packers. According to the farm's own history, Edwin and Wilma Vogel started the farm in Kuna in 1950. Later generations turned it into a country market that sells directly to customers.
Cabalo's Orchard & Gardens at 2087 W King Rd is owned by Chan and Cathy Cabalo. It grows pesticide-free fruit and vegetables and sells them seasonally from early summer through its pumpkin patch in October. With October nearly over, their site is the place to check before driving out.
Count the stops and Kuna's food week still has a local core. The new part is the discount and bulk run, and it now ends a few minutes up Meridian Road instead of on the far side of the interstate.
What to watch between now and Thanksgiving
Nov. 5 is a scheduled date. The Statesman reported that Costco usually holds back opening dates while construction can still change them, and the date first appeared on the company's website in early October. Check Costco's warehouse page for the final word and for posted hours. Watch City of Kuna planning news for the next WinCo filing. Expect the Lake Hazel and Columbia stretch of Meridian Road to stay busy while the west-side widening is still to come.
If you're watching the grocery map change and wondering what it means for your own corner of Kuna, or for a build or lot purchase near the Meridian Road corridor, Soldman Team knows these streets and the projects going up along them. Let's find your way home. Book a consultation.
