Wal-Mart officials Tuesday confirmed plans to expand their existing Lawrence store into a Supercenter that sells groceries.

Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris said the company was in negotiations to purchase property from Crown Automotive, which is south of the Wal-Mart store at 3300 Iowa. Crown, in turn, would move to property formerly occupied by Payless Cashways.

“It’s true,” Morris said. “But we still don’t have any formal plan that is ready to be submitted.”

Morris said the company hoped to reach a deal to buy the 6-acre property and submit a plan for city approval by this summer. He said the company wanted to purchase enough land to allow the existing store to add a grocery department and widen aisles in other departments. The recycling center would be retained.

“With the growth in the area, the existing store is just very much undersized,” Morris said.

The expansion would not affect Wal-Mart’s plans to build a new store at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive. Plans for that project have been rejected by city commissioners and are in litigation. The new store would not have a grocery department, according to plans.

Miles Schnaer, president of Crown Automotive, said Tuesday he was cautiously optimistic about reaching a deal with Wal-Mart.

“We’re still having a little dialogue with them,” Schnaer said. “I think there may be something that happens. There is still dialogue going on and that means there’s still interest from everybody involved.”

In November, Schnaer confirmed he was in discussions with Wal-Mart, but the retailer would neither confirm nor deny the negotiations.

Wal-Mart officials hope to expand their existing store on South Iowa Street into a Supercenter that will include a grocery department. The retailer said Tuesday that it hoped to strike a deal to buy property from Crown Automotive. Crown officials are seeking to buy the former Payless Cashways site just south of the current dealership.

Since November, Schnaer said he had drawn closer to reaching a deal to purchase the vacant Payless Cashways building, which is south of the Crown Automotive dealership.

“There’s a little smoke there,” Schnaer said of negotiations to buy the 73,500-square-foot building that has been vacant since Payless closed in 2001. “There’s nothing for sure yet, but there’s interest from both parties.”

The Payless property, which includes nearly 11 acres, could serve as a new site for Schnaer’s auto dealership. Schnaer said he definitely was planning to keep his dealership open and wanted it to remain on South Iowa Street.

“Whatever happens, Crown Automotive is still going to be out here,” Schnaer said.

Wal-Mart has announced plans to build about 220 Wal-Mart Supercenters across the country in 2004. Morris said the company wants to increase the number of Supercenters because customers have said they like the concept of one-stop shopping.

Lawrence’s growing population makes it a prime candidate for a Supercenter, he said.

“Without a doubt it is a growing market for us,” Morris said. “We view it as a tremendous opportunity.”

Bryan Dyer, a planner with the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department, said Tuesday it was uncertain what approval process Wal-Mart officials would have to go through to expand the store. He said some rezoning could be required.