It appears several large retail chains are interested in the Moscow-Pullman area.I had previously reported way back in March that Old Navy would be coming to the Palouse Mall, only my sources indicated Michaels would be the location. Looks like its Gottschalks instead.
Palouse Mall property manager Jim Bendickson confirmed Friday that Old Navy and Bed, Bath and Beyond will soon open stores at the Moscow location.
He would not disclose any dates for the anticipated openings, but did say at least one of the retailers will move into the space currently occupied by Gottschalks.
The Fresno-based department store announced earlier this week that its Moscow location is going out of business in January.
Bendickson said the public can expect to hear sometime next week about the anticipated arrivals of the new stores.
“We are still in the process of putting that information together,” Bendickson said. “We’ll make an announcement when we’re ready.”
Several calls to the corporate offices of Old Navy and Bed, Bath and Beyond this week were not returned.
In Pullman, construction is underway for an Ace Hardware store at the Wheatland Center retail space previously occupied by Safeway.
The owners, Doug and Linda Henry of Henry’s Ace Hardware in Milton-Freewater, Ore., were not available for comment, but store manager Justin Schouten said the family is anticipating a mid-spring opening.
“That’s what we’re shooting for, anyway,” Schouten said Friday from his office in Milton-Freewater. “At this point, I don’t see how we could open the doors any sooner than that.”
Old Navy, a store that sells hip clothing at a discount, will do a killer business in this area of two universities where the average age is in the 20s. The first few weeks the store is open will probably be standing room only. I've always said it was the one business the Palouse really needed. Too bad it has to be in Moscow.
With regards to a question that was asked of me on this blog by one of the owners of Ace Hardware linking its opening to Wal-Mart's, this was not based on any "inside" information. I simply stated that a study showed that stores in the building materials/home improvement line do 4% more business after 10 years of Wal-Mart's opening. Also, building materials/home improvement stores such as Home Depot and Lowe's actively jockey to get next to a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Homegrown Pullman Building Supply is getting in on the action. Why should national chain Ace Hardware be any different?
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