OXFORD – At least two “big box” retailers are looking at opening new stores along Route 26 in Oxford.

Options have been taken out on land in at least one case, Brett Doney, chief executive officer of EnterpriseMaine, confirmed on Tuesday.

“The character of that area could change very rapidly,” said Doney, who declined to say which parcels are under consideration.

At last week’s selectmen’s meeting, Selectman David Ivey said he had heard that Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse was eyeing Oxford for expansion. Doney declined to say which of the volume-based retailers were involved.

He did say that “If the economy holds together, I think we’re going to see quite a bit of new development” in the next few years, referring to the Oxford stretch of highway from Norway to Mechanic Falls.

Doney said Route 26 in Oxford has drawn the interest of big-box retailers, off and on, since the fall of 1994, when the Wal-Mart store opened on Route 26. But in the last six months, he said, “We’ve seen increased interest. This time they feel the economy is right.”

The corridor has several large undeveloped parcels suitable for retail development, including land adjacent to the Viking Motors car dealership owned by developer Bob Bahre, and parcels further south owned by John Schiavi and the University of Southern Maine.

“It is a statement of confidence in the area” that the big-box retailers are back, Doney said. But there’s no guarantee they’ll decide to go forward with their plans.

“What they tend to do is get options on land in say, six different areas and then actually go to four of them,” said Doney. “We’ve got a whole variety of big box retailers looking right now, but I don’t know what we’re going to end up with.”