LYNNWOOD – Tony Gilman, a security guard who joined Alderwood’s force to help open the mall’s new addition, marveled Thursday at the mass of humanity about to surge his way.
“I come from a small place in Northern California,” said Gilman, one of about 40 extra workers added to the mall staff for the week. “There’s more people here than in that little town.”
An estimated 14,000 people waited for the mall to open as a senior vice president with Alderwood’s owner, General Growth Properties, stirred up excitement.
“Let’s go shopping!” Sharon Polonia told the crowd. “Shop early and shop often.”
The occasion was the opening of The Village at Alderwood, an open-air addition consisting of more than 30 stores on the mall’s north side. By about 9:30 a.m., the throng of shoppers completely filled the Lynnwood mall’s central court and snaked down the main promenade of the mall to the food court.
Then the glass doors opened and shoppers pushed forward. Within a few minutes, all 5,000 complimentary gift bags had been snatched up.
“There were people when we got here this morning around 4 a.m. camping outside the food court doors,” said Tamera Wachter, Alderwood’s senior marketing director. “The response has been absolutely tremendous.”
In fact, Lynnwood fire safety officials estimated that up to 20,000 people went through the doors to the new addition in the first 40 minutes or so – more than live within the city limits of Arlington.
That’s where Hope Gandrud, 19, and Jessica Laubauch, 23, came from, waking around 5 a.m. in order to be at the mall before The Village opened.
The women were among the first customers to scale a 30-foot climbing pinnacle in the new REI store, one of The Village’s major anchors. By 11 a.m., the wait to do so was about three hours.
Besides REI, Gandrud said she especially liked the new Pottery Barn and Eddie Bauer Home stores. Laubauch said the open-air setting and mix of upscale stores was impressive.
“It makes Alderwood look more classy,” she said.
Joyce Newell, who has lived in Lynnwood with her husband, Warren, for 43 years, browsed the woolen clothing and blankets in the nearby Pendleton store. Newell said she was at Alderwood mall’s original grand opening 25 years ago and worked for the mall’s former owner.
“I think it’s beautiful,” said Newell, comparing the shopping wing favorably to Seattle’s University Village. “This is a great addition to the city of Lynnwood.”
Kathleen Hawn of Lynnwood said she also liked the addition despite the “insane” crowd and the fact that one of the clothing stores she most wanted to check out still hadn’t opened.
“I’ll come here when it’s a little more sane,” she said.
Lokelani Stringfellow, owner of the Black Pearl Teahouse and a resident of the Snohomish area, was prepared to serve plenty of customers. The store’s tall shelves held canisters with scores of different teas as employees got ready to serve Asian-style bubble teas.
“We’re really excited to be here,” said her husband, Ryan Stringfellow. “The neighbors we have, as far as stores, you can’t beat it.”
The Apple computer store, which gave out T-shirts for the first hour, had its own lineup of customers, since only so many could fit inside the doors at the same time. Inside, customers checked out the newest iMac models and iPod music players.
At LoveSac, co-owner Blake Hansen was greeting customers who wanted to know “what the heck we sell.” The store is part of a national franchise specializing in huge, foam-filled furniture – kind of like beanbags on steroids.
“People are curious about the name, so they come in and check it out,” said Hansen, who owns two other LoveSac locations with his business partner. “It’s a fun store.”
The opening of The Village marked the winding down of the mall’s huge expansion and renovation, though two restaurants and a giant Loew’s movie theater on Alderwood’s south side are still being finished. The project, which cost at least $50 million, has made the mall the state’s second largest.
“But this is more a starting point than an ending point,” said Jerry Alder, Alderwood’s general manager. “This is when we turn it over to the people who will really enjoy it.”
Joe Walker, project manager for Bayley Construction, which built The Village, just stood and watched Thursday as the first shoppers, including his wife, gazed and gawked.
After all the work he and others put into the construction, he was happy to see the stores thronged by shoppers.
“I’ve been here two and a half years,” he said. “This is by far the best day.”
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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