EVERETT – Kerrie Doramus and her family could barely wait until the Old Navy store opened at Everett Mall.
She called the store Thursday morning to find out when they unlocked the doors, and she was shopping there Friday.
“I’m ecstatic. I’ve been patiently waiting for this to open so I could avoid Lynnwood,” the 31-year-old Everett resident said.
Dana Posey of Tulalip and his son, Kanim, headed out of Old Navy with one of the store’s bright shopping bags.
“I think it’s terrific. I don’t have to drive all the way down to Lynnwood now. And it’s one of his favorite stores,” Posey said, nodding toward his 9-year-old.
Judging by the number of Old Navy bags hanging off the arms of shoppers in the mall, the new clothing store is a hit. A short walk west of the mall, the Best Buy electronics store opened Friday to a waiting crowd and brisk business all morning.
“It’s been great; very busy,” said Jason Templeman, general manager of the new Everett store and a resident of Marysville. “I can’t wait for the rest of the tenants on this side to open.”
Best Buy is the only store open at The Village, a collection of four large businesses, including Sleep Country USA, Bed Bath &Beyond and PetsMart. Quiznos Sub also is opening a store there. Sleep Country had hoped to be doing business Friday but is now aiming for a Nov. 4 opening. The other businesses plan to open between November and January.
Patrick Cox, a partner with the mall’s owner, Steadfast Cos., strolled around to casually observe the number of shoppers Friday. He and his management team have more work ahead before the mall’s expansion is complete, but they enjoyed this week’s milestone in the $30 million project.
“We’re expecting to have a tremendous weekend with these two stores open,” said Linda Johannes, the mall’s general manager.
One of the beneficiaries of Old Navy’s opening was Majid Siddiqui, owner of Tobacco Emporium. For the past 10 months or so, his shop has been at a dead-end in the mall, next to a closed-off area while construction crews built Old Navy’s store.
His patience for dealing with that is being rewarded now, he said.
“There’s been a lot of difference in traffic,” said Siddiqui, who said his sales have doubled in the past two days. “I’m very glad.”
With work ongoing to get store spaces ready for Borders and other tenants, as well as a new 16-screen movie theater, construction workers will be joining shoppers at the mall for weeks to come. Dave Martinez, superintendent for S.D. Deacon Corp., said he has up to 200 or so workers split between round-the-clock shifts.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
Dan Bates / The Herald
Phon Luangrath (left) and Kai Som, both of Everett, leave the new Old Navy store at the Everett Mall on Friday after finding what they said were some good deals.
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