TULALIP — The Quil Ceda Village Wal-Mart celebrated its grand re-opening with considerable ceremony July 22, including a parading of the colors by the Mount Baker Council of the Boy Scouts of America, an invocation by Pastor Mike Villamor of Turning Point Community Church, a performance by the Tulalip Tribes singing and drumming group, and a ribbon-cutting by Marysville Mayor Dennis Kendall.

“We all frequent this store a lot,” said Tulalip Tribes Board member Tony Hatch, who also served as one of the drummers at the ceremony. “It’s big for the community and it’s big for the Tulalip people. This parking lot is always full, and it feels good to see visitors from all over, because we know that they’ll be taken care of well here and they’ll want to come back.”

“It’s not often that an elected official stays around long enough to see the grand opening and the grand re-opening of the same place,” Kendall laughed, before passing on the “best wishes” of the Marysville City Council and Tulalip Tribes Chair Mel Sheldon, who could not attend the ceremony. “This is a great example of the Tribes and the city working hand in hand. You’re a great asset to the community, and a community partner that serves our needs, and you do a great job for all of us. This store looks beautiful.”

Quil Ceda Village Wal-Mart Co-Manager Becky Housden explained that the three-month renovation of the store was not just for aesthetic purposes, but for functional ones as well. Aisles are now seven feet wide throughout the store, with no obstructions, and stands have been redesigned to have “lower profiles,” so that customers can see further distances between them. The store’s signage has also been made brighter and bigger, while a few product areas have been relocated to accommodate customers’ traffic patterns better.

“For example, we’ve moved the pet department closer to the grocery area, so that customers can pick up food for themselves and their pets in the same space,” Housden said. “Before, they were on two different sides of the store.”

The Quil Ceda Village Wal-Mart also received updated fixtures, completely new tiles throughout the store, and an addition of five new check-out registers, for a total of 34 registers.

Quil Ceda Village Wal-Mart Co-Manager Mary Jane Hayes handed out three oversized checks, for $1,000 each, to Villamor for Turning Point Community Church, to Hilary Black-Ward for the Mount Baker Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and to Lt. Jeff Jira and Cmdr. Carlos Echevarria for the Tulalip Tribal Police.

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