HOW TO GO
WHAT: Gabe's grand opening
WHEN: 7 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, when the first 200 visitors will also receive a free Gabe's Middletown T-shirt and some will receive a Gabe's gift card. Official ribbon cutting takes place at 8 a.m.
The official grand opening isn’t until Saturday but the new Gabe’s store in Middletown was busy with its “soft opening” Wednesday.
“It was busy yesterday,” said Donna McKnight, the new store’s manager. “Based on our transaction reports, we had between 600 and 700 people in the store shopping.”
McKnight said the store’s unannounced soft opening was shared through an e-blast to Gabe’s Rewards customers as well as by word of mouth from friends and family of the newly-hired employees. She said the soft opening helps to get employees ready and cash registers tested prior to the grand opening.
The discount fashion retailer’s new store has 57,000 square feet of shopping space and is located 3455 Towne Blvd. in a portion of the former Dillard’s store. The other portion of the former Dillard’s building is occupied by the Burlington store that opened last March.
Gabe’s features apparel, footwear, home goods, accessories and toys.
“Shoppers know unbelievable value when they see it,” said Ken Seipel, CEO, Gabriel Brothers, Inc., which is based in Morgantown, W.Va. “Our customers in Ohio know we deliver on the promise of great styles and famous brands and amazing prices. That is also why customers visit our stores so often, to catch the latest deals and know they will leave happy.”
The Gabe’s grand opening starts at 7 a.m. Saturday with the first 200 visitors receiving a Gabe’s Middletown T-shirt. Some early shoppers will also receive a Gabe’s gift card, according to store officials.
McKnight will cut the grand opening ribbon to welcome shoppers and a gift card raffle will be held every 15 minutes until noon and a every hour between 12:30 and 4:30 p.m.
One of the early shoppers Thursday was Debbi Ramer of Monroe as she already had a basket of merchandise by mid-morning.
“I love it because they have really good prices,” she said. “I’m glad I got here today before it really opened. There are really good prices for shoes. “This is great.”
There was also a couple from Struthers, Ohio, just outside of Youngstown, who has been to more than one opening of a new Gabe’s store. In fact, Roseann Marr said she and her husband were the first customers in the store on Wednesday.
“This is the 30th new store opening we’ve been to,” Marr said. “I shop at their stores because they have a lot of brands for my family and a nice selection of clothes for my grandchildren.”
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