Costco will not be opening in Auburn on Nevada Street as city officials had hoped.

But the city plans to attract other major retailers to bolster Auburn’s tax base, especially now that department store Gottschalks plans to close.

“There was never a contract settled with Costco with the city of Auburn, so it never moved forward with the city,” said Will Wong, community development director.

The contract with the property owner and Costco had expired, officials said.

“It’s always hard to attract new companies because they all have their own formula and mapping of when they are going to come because they are not going to come until they are ready … sometimes towns will never attract certain companies like Costco,” Wong said. “But we (Auburn) are a good location and the next stepping stone to Rocklin and Roseville … If it wasn’t for this recession we would be moving forward a lot quicker.”

Still, ongoing plans by city officials continue to develop in an effort to recruit new stores to Auburn. City officials are hopeful that the 40,000-square-foot building space currently occupied by Gottschalks in the Auburn Town Square will be replaced by the end of the year with either one or multiple new full-service retail stores. Gottschalks announced it was going out of business at the end of March.

“I have been in contact with different companies and they (Auburn Town Square) feel that they will be able to replace it with one or two outlets,” Wong said.

Wong said he cannot comment on tenants in the running to replace the building.

“Now I’m just waiting to see who they decide as to who is the best tenant to fit the square footage,” Wong said. “I am confident that it could be decided fairly soon.”

The decision of who will be replacing the building space will be conducted privately between the retail tenant and the lease dealer, officials said.

“I’m very hopeful that it will be in operation by the end of the year,” said Mayor Mike Holmes on the timeline for replacing the tennant.

Holmes stated that the city is searching for additional retail stores and will include new stores in Downtown Auburn and on Industrial Park at the airport.

“We have a group working in several different areas to recruit new stores,” said Holmes. “We are obviously trying to fill any vacant spaces – but with the economy it is difficult.

“Between the chamber and the city we get inquiries for replacements all the time – we will continue our effort to replace vacant spots – we would like to have local shops come out because we want people to shop locally and not travel down the hill to the Galleria or other places,” Holmes said.

Some residents are upset to hear that Costco will not be coming to Auburn, and are curious to see what new retail stores will replace vacant stores and how they will be chosen.

“I’m sorry to hear that Costco is dropping out … I think that there is much money to be made with new stores,” said Dan Sokol, 83, an Auburn resident for 32 years.

But Sokol, a taxpayers’ advocate, said the city is trying to do too much.

“I don’t think that it’s up to the city to be recruiting, I think they are going too far with recruiting,” Sokol said. “It’s up to the companies to find the proper business … I think that the proper role of the city is not to get in the way.”

Other concerns from the community include taking the “small-town” feel away from Auburn with the recruitment of large retail stores.

“I would worry about our mom and pop stores in town,” said Rebecca Wilson, 22. Wilson said she grew up in Loomis and has worked in Auburn for four years as a barista at Starbucks on Elm Avenue in Auburn Town Center.

“Naturally with the economic status it’s going to boost things, but that’s with the fact that people will have the money to spend,” Wilson said. “It would be good for us (Starbucks) because people would be up early going to work and need coffee.”