Kevin Waltz, a project manager who oversaw Grange Co-op's move to a new distribution center in south Medford, walks through the vacant half of the business' new warehouse off South Pacific Highway. Earlier this month, the member-owned cooperative took ownership of a 71,000-square-foot facility previously used by commercial printer CDS Publications.

For Grange Co-op CEO Neil Itzen, too big can be just about right — at least when it comes to warehouses.

Piles of animal feed and garden supplies were well spaced and dwarfed by bright lights and tall ceilings inside the cooperative’s new distribution center in the 2600 block of South Pacific Highway. Half of the south Medford warehouse was entirely empty, but Itzen sees potential.

“It sets us up for the future,” he said. “When you have more space, you have more opportunity.”

The cooperative officially took ownership of the 6-acre, 71,000-square-foot property at the beginning of the year, but the seller allowed the company to get an early start last month on upgrading lighting and fire-suppression systems — as well as on tailoring the space, formerly used as commercial printer CDS Publications’ press operations, to the co-op’s needs. 

Distribution workers started collecting shipments at the new location in late December, according to Itzen. The new facility is designed to better serve the White City-based cooperative’s seven store locations in Central Point, Ashland, White City, Klamath Falls and Yuba City, California.

Itzen highlighted that the distribution center is practically next door to its south Medford store at 2531 S. Pacific Hwy.

Project manager Kevin Waltz described the new warehouse’s bright lights and open floor plan as “night and day” compared to Grange Co-op’s old 25,000-square-foot distribution center on Highway 99 on the north end of town near the Central Point border.

“The best way to describe the old one is ‘compartmentalized,'” Itzen said.

It wasn’t just cramped quarters. Itzen said the space was no longer serving them. They bought it in 1994 to open Pet Country, an offshoot of the co-op that exclusively sold pet supplies before closing in 2017. A sale on the old warehouse is pending and expected to complete by the end of this month.

Grange Co-op stores now sell, in addition to agricultural supplies, goods ranging from pet supplies to patio furniture for general consumers. The company’s roots date back to 1934, when 99 Rogue Valley farmers pooled $10 each to form a cooperative that served the region’s agricultural needs.

Despite the company’s expansion, employees haven’t lost sight of their agricultural roots. In the warehouse, Itzen pointed to stacks of orange bags containing its Rogue animal feed that the company makes in Central Point. It make 9,000 tons of that variety alone and 35,000 tons of feed overall. 

“It’s a unique business,” Itzen said. “We think we’re the only business that does this.”

The warehouse’s added space also gives the business greater buying power.

“For customers, this opens so many doors,” Itzen said. “We’re going to make good decisions.”