First store opens at mall
Jonesboro Sun
10/2/2005
JONESBORO -- It's finally happened.
Those were the words of store officials at JC Penney on Sunday as the store held its preliminary opening at the Mall at Turtle Creek; the opening saw the parking lot full, and the store met its sales goal for the day within three hours of opening. The store, one of two businesses which will open this year at the mall, was overflowing with customers Sunday, with many of them seeking to find deals and look over the new store.
Terry Kemp of Lepanto said he was impressed by the store and the mall in general.
"In spite of it being hot in here, this is a nice store. I have looked forward to the new mall. And it will be good for the city of Jonesboro," Kemp said.
In addition, some customers were happy to see a larger selection of items.
Donna Hall of Jonesboro said that she was impressed by the jewelry in the store.
"I plan to get all of my jewelry here," Hall said.
According to Sales Support Manager Karen Griffin, the store -- which was located for 29 years at Indian Mall and was also once located in a 3-story building at the corner of Main Street and Huntington Avenue -- will work well to serve additional customers because of its mall location at the intersection of Stadium Boulevard and Highland Drive.
"We hope to have more customers with the new location and new mall," Griffin said. "We hope that people will shop here due to the new mall instead of them going to Memphis."
The store -- with approximately 80,000 square-feet of floor space -- has a larger salon and a new houseware department, Griffin added.
According to Griffin, the store currently has 125 employees and will add additional employees during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season to meet demand.
The store will have its official grand opening at 9 a.m. Friday.
Sun staff writer Anthony Childress contributed to this report.mwkey@jonesborosun.com
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