We’re talking shopping here

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This article was published 02/10/2014 (3998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It seems Winnipeggers’ thirst for a new shopping experience knows no bounds.

Never mind it was 10 a.m. on a weekday, or that it was threatening to pour rain at any minute.

Hundreds of eager shoppers — one mall official estimated there were close to 500 of them — still turned out for Wednesday’s much-hyped grand opening of 17 new stores in the Polo Park shopping centre.

There were men, there were women, there were teens, and there were seniors. There were even some young mothers with a baby strapped to their chest and one or two toddlers in tow.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, patiently waiting for the speeches to end and the security ropes to come down. And when they did, all hell broke loose as everyone made a mad dash for their favourite store.

In less than two minutes, long lineups had formed outside two of the most popular outlets — the Disney Store and Nine West, a women’s shoes, purses and accessories store.

Arlene Lodge was one of the first through the doors of Nine West.

She’d left home around 9:15 a.m. for the 25-minute walk to the mall, fully expecting to find a big crowd when she arrived. But that wasn’t going to deter her, even though she wasn’t sure if she’d be buying anything.

“I’m just looking. I wanted to check out Anthropologie, but it isn’t open yet.”

She said after Nine West, she’d be hitting the Disney Store.

“I really missed it after it went away.”

The Disney Store that used to be in St. Vital Centre closed about five years ago, so this is a return engagement of sorts for the retailer.

At least half a dozen of the other stores that opened Wednesday are newcomers to the Winnipeg market. They include Nine West, Fossil, Journey’s, Watch It!, Saje and Thomas Sabo, which all opened on Wednesday, as well as Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, which open in mid-October, and Hickory Farms, which opens Oct. 22.

Although Lodge wasn’t sure if she’d be buying anything, that wasn’t the case with Sandra Anderson. Within minutes of arriving at the Disney Store, Anderson had already scooped up a Cinderella costume for her two-year-old daughter, Dianne, and an astronaut’s costume for her friend’s young son.

“I’ve got three kids under (the age of) five. You can’t not love Disney!”

The Disney Store was also the first stop for Chrystal Gross and her mom, Lori Crampton. Gross was looking to get a head start on her Christmas shopping, and by 11 a.m. she had a shopping bag full of stuffed animals.

After taking a little break, they’d be off to Fossil to look for a new watch strap and maybe a new purse.

“You can never have enough purses!” Crampton enthused.

The addition of 17 new stores Wednesday and five more over the next three weeks is part of a $49-million, 114,000-square-foot redevelopment project that included converting the former Zellers space on the second floor into a multi-tenant area.

Another 25,000 square feet of space on the main floor was redeveloped to make room for a new H&M store. Its Sept. 10 opening attracted an even bigger crowd, said mall manager Deborah Green. She said it drew about 650 people.

“But for Winnipeg on a Wednesday morning — a rainy Wednesday morning — we were very pleased with today’s turnout,” she added.

Martin Bandura, vice-president of sales and operations for Nine West, admitted he was surprised at how many people showed up for the opening of the chain’s 46th Canadian store.

“This was great to see. We believe this is probably going to be one of our top-five stores in Canada.”

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca