MARYSVILLE And the wave continues this week with two more grand openings of national chain, brand-name retailers; Target is scheduled to open a new store at Lakewood Crossing next to Costco on Oct. 4, and Kohls is already ringing up customers at a new facility on 116th Street NE.
Kohls will have an official ribbon cutting on Oct. 5, but district manager Greg Thomas took a visitor on a tour of his new 88,000-square-foot earlier this week, already doing business with a soft opening. A big name in the Midwest and eastern parts of the United States, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based chain has 800 stores and will open another 400 within the next four years. Five of those will be in the Puget Sound area, including three opening this month in Bellingham and Covington, near Kent, and a Lynnwood store in November and a Burlington shop next March.
The Marysville store features a number of new innovations in layout and amenities, Thomas said, pointing out the hardwood floors in the changing areas and wide aisles. There is a smaller fitting room upfront and a more extensive set near the spine of the store, with leather couches and seating benches for family members to wait when outfits are tried on.
This is something that weve listened to our customers and addressed, Thomas said.
The chain focuses on soft goods industry-speak for clothing, perfumes, and goods marketed to women, who make up 80 percent of the Kohls shoppers. In fact Thomas repeatedly described how the new layout will appeal to her on the tour. The store also sells bedding, towels, kitchenware and mixers, all on a good, better, best scale of escalating price and quality. The chain stocks name brands such as Nike, Chaps by Ralph Lauren, Dockers and many others, and has private label house brands, complimented by exclusive deals with Candies, a clothing line, and, starting next year, designer Vera Wang.
I think Kohls is the total solution, Thomas said.
The chain falls close to J.C. Penneys and Macys in the offerings, but according to Thomas his outfit is easier for shoppers, with much wider aisles, clearly marked signage and logical departments divisions on a one-floor layout. A big change for some shoppers is the row of check stands at the entrance and exits, instead of the check out points scattered in each department at competitors stores. Thomas said customers like the layout.
I think its easier, she knows where to go, he explained.
The store will employ about 200 people. There is an extensive shoe department, lots of candles and Halloween items at the checkout counters. At the back of the store workers are already building the Christmas displays.
As workers finish widening 116th Street into four traffic lanes with a center turn lane, Kohls is the Gateway Shopping Centers only tenant so far, with anchor Winco grocery store at least another nine months off. The site has several other pads for bank and restaurant-sized tenants.
In all Marysville will be hosting about a million square feet of new retail space in the next year, with half of that at Lakewood Crossing alone. At their Sept. 25 meeting Mayor Dennis Kendall told the Marysville City Council that the new Costco store reportedly rang up more than $728,000 in sales on the first day, making for the Issaquah-based chains seventh largest opening day in company history, worldwide.
It looks like they are off with a bang, Kendall said.
Costco manager Gene Dunlap would not confirm those numbers or rankings but said the handle for his new store was better than expected.
I can say that we were extremely pleased with the opening and that it exceeded our expectations for it, Dunlap said.
Council members applauded the city staff for making a plan and sticking to it, as developing commercial activity has been the crux of Kendalls administration, after years of growth in residential developments. Kendall pointed out that the same large scissors used to snap the ribbon at Costco were there later in the day to usher in a new chiropractors office on State Avenue.
While the city is seeking to shore up finances with the higher revenues from retail sales taxes, attracting more industrial activity is the goal of several annexations.