Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply will break ground in April on a 46,000-square-foot store at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Montana 40 near Columbia Falls.

The new store will be located on the site of the Midway Drive-in outdoor movie theater, a local landmark that was demolished last week.

Walker Construction of Bozeman will build the store using local subcontractors, according to Murdoch’s President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Ungersma. The store will open sometime in October or November.

The North Valley Murdoch’s will be similar in size and layout to the Kalispell Murdoch’s store on U.S. 93 S. in Kalispell, he said. It will employ 35 to 50 full- and part-time employees, with seasonal staff added in the summer and in the late third quarter and fourth quarter of the year.

Developer Gene Cook of Bozeman owns the 10-acre site, a prime commercial corner at one of the Flathead Valley’s busiest intersections. Ungersma said Murdoch’s has a “build-to-suit lease” with Cook and will lease the land and building on a long-term basis.

Such a lease agreement is fairly typical for Murdoch’s stores, Ungersma added, though the Bozeman-based corporation does own some of its store buildings.

“We’re excited to be in the northern part of the valley,” he said. “It’s a well-traveled intersection.

“I’ve been with Murdoch’s for 20 years and I remember going to Kalispell and looking at that land on Highway 93. That was the second store we built.”

When the Kalispell store opened in 1995 it was called Big R Ranch and Home Supply; the name was changed to Murdoch’s 11 years ago.

“It’s been fun for me to see the business grow. Our Flathead Valley customers have been good to us,” Ungersma said. “As we’ve been blessed with growth, we see another area [in the North Valley] where we can meet the need.”

The North Valley Murdoch’s will be the corporation’s 11th store in Montana and the only new store to be built in Montana this year.

John Murdoch opened his first flagship store in Bozeman in 1994. Today Murdoch’s has 26 stores in four states and more than 1,100 employees.

Murdoch’s describes its stores as “modern-day mercantiles,” offering a range of clothing, footwear, tools, pet supplies, fencing, power equipment, hardware and garden supplies.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.