Cathleen Allison/Nevada AppealSandi Krzyzan and her son Keith, 13, look at strollers in the new Burlington Coat Factory on Friday afternoon. The 70,000-square-foot store opened in the former Wal-Mart building in South Carson City.
Ladonna Fesler picked out shirts for one of her grandchildren as another played with a toy robot on the floor of Burlington Coat Factory.
It was the opening day of the department store's Carson City location on Friday and Fesler, who lives in Minden, said she was excited.
"I'm like, 'Hurry up and open up!'" she said. "I love this place."
The chain has about 400 other stores and specializes in discounted name-brand clothes. The city lured a developer with a $2 million incentive to bring in the 70,000-square-foot store to a space that has been empty since Wal-Mart closed six years ago at the site.
Stephanie Villaneva of Carson City was looking through the shoe section Friday, trying to find something dressy.
She said the new store looks good and the prices are cheap, so she's glad there's one close by.
"I go to the one in Reno, but it's so far to drive," she said.
Dewayne Norman said he used to go to Burlington when he lived in Los Angeles and said he likes the store because the prices are reasonable.
"I'm just looking now," he said. "I'm looking a for a pair of pants, but I can't find any in my length."
Developer Robert Rothe of City Management Services in Bellevue, Wash., and city supervisors and staff were there to watch the opening.
"I'm just here saying, 'Hey, we've got it together. We've got everything done," Rothe said.
Sportsman's Warehouse, which Rothe is getting $2 million in tax rebates to bring in, is scheduled to open in spring 2009 in the same complex.
Around 30 to 40 people were waiting for the store to open Friday morning, said Supervisor Robin Williamson, and this wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the city "stepping up."
"We're good partners," she said, "and, for once, our timing was good."
The 120,000-square-foot South Carson City building has been empty since Wal-Mart left in 2002. Parts of it have been torn down. Max Baer Jr. bought the building in 2003 for $4.5 million to use for his Beverly Hillbillies casino, but sold it to Rothe in May 2007 for $8.5 million.
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