BINFORD (AP) - This tiny city's biggest retailer - informally known as "Little Wal-Mart" - is reopening after a fire.

The grocery and hardware store, which burned down in July, is expected to reopen this spring in this farm and ranch town of 200.

A Casselton grocer has agreed to manage the store and construction should begin this winter, said Ken Gilbertson, city coordinator and owner of the Binford Cafe.

"There are still some details to work out but we're making good progress," he said.

The previous owner of Binford Grocery and Hardware declined to rebuild after it burned. But town officials decided the store was too important to lose.

Its absence forces Binford residents to shop out of town for groceries and hardware.

Binford's development association has raised about $85,000 in donations and another $100,000 has been collected in grants.

Jamestown-based South Central Regional Council contributed half of the $100,000.

"We consider the grocery store to be an essential service to the community," said Kari Hecker, the council's loan administrator.

Gilbertson is optimistic about raising the rest of the project's $300,000 price tag.

The new 7,290-square-foot building will go on the site of the old one.

Fred Wangler will lease the building and operate the new Binford Grocery and Hardware Store. He owns and operates North Dakota grocery stores in Casselton and Kindred, and leases and operates a store in Buffalo.

"I'm a small-town guy. I want the small towns to make it," Wangler said. He plans to hire a manager in Binford and spend some time there himself.