Kohl’s opens in Marysville

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, October 3, 2006

MARYSVILLE – A new arrival to the Puget Sound region’s retail landscape opens this week in Marysville, one of three new major retail centers that will boost this growing city’s sales tax revenue.

The Kohl’s store at the new Gateway Plaza opened to the public without fanfare on Sunday morning; an official grand opening will take place Thursday. The store is one of the first three the Midwest retailer is opening in the area this week.

By the year’s end, Kohl’s will have more than 800 stores in 45 states, but it’s not a well-known chain in the Pacific Northwest. Based in Wisconsin, Kohl’s calls itself a “value-oriented” department store.

“Convenience, brand and value. I think that’s what we stand for,” said Greg Thomas, Kohl’s district manager for the Puget Sound region. He explained that despite aggressive pricing compared with traditional department stores, Kohl’s carries a range of name brands.

The Marysville Kohl’s store, along with one opening in Lynnwood next month, is based on the company’s latest design, which includes large, stylish dressing rooms with waiting areas.

Other new touches in the 88,000-square-foot store: scanners that customers can use to check merchandise prices throughout the store, wider aisles and directional signs to help shoppers find their way around.

The Marysville store has hired about 200 people, which gives it a head start on holiday staffing. Thomas said it wasn’t difficult for the company to find workers.

“We thought it would be with Target and Costco opening at about the same time, but it really wasn’t,” he said.

One of those new employees, Kathleen Hardy-Milton of Marysville, said she thinks the store’s prices and the merchandise – which includes clothes, shoes and housewares – will bring in shoppers.

The location, visible from I-5, across the freeway from Seattle Premium Outlets and close to other new stores won’t hurt, Thomas added. Additionally, Gateway Plaza will eventually host Ross Stores Inc., WinCo Foods and other stores.

“I view those stores as bringing more traffic into this area, so that people can see what we have to offer,” Thomas said.

Just to the north, at the new Lakewood Crossing shopping center, Target also is opening this week. The new store joins Costco, which opened two weeks ago.

In addition to giving local shoppers more choices, all the new stores are a boon to the city’s finances. Sandy Langdon, Marysville’s finance director, said property and sales tax revenues from the construction and operation of the new stores is expected to equal about $3.5 million this year.

Overall, the city is on track to meet its goal to increase the property and sales tax dollars flowing to the city by 8 percent from 2005, she added.

Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.

Marysvilles new retail stores

* Kohls, 3713 116th St. NE. Already open; grand opening event takes place at 7:45 a.m. Thursday.

* Target, 16818 Twin Lakes Ave. in the Lakewood Crossing shopping center. Opens to the public at 8 a.m. today, but grand opening events will be Sunday.

* Costco, 16616 Twin Lakes Ave. at Lakewood Crossing. Opened Sept. 21.