Kohl's is the new anchor store here at Sierra Vista Mall. People that live nearby where happy to find out the store opened Sunday and several employees inside say it is good to finally get a steady paycheck.
Three Valley Kohl's retail stores unlocked their doors for business Sunday.
This soft open in Clovis gave employees a chance to perfect sales techniques and shoppers to find the best deals. "We shop here all the time. I'm excited because it's a lot closer. It'll save me a lot of gas. Gas is expensive," Barbara Rogers from Sanger said.
"Havin' a family. I have three kids. You know it's kind of important to find a good place to shop that is reasonably priced and offers a variety," said Clovis shopper Jody Sharp.
During the first week of August, when unemployment in Fresno County was a staggering 15.4 percent, thousands of job seekers lined up for the opportunity to work at Kohl's.
Amanda Weston is one of the 400 employees hired during that August job fair. "I was a manager for a movie rental place that went out of business. And so I've been out of work for three years."
Now she's looking to make a career here like visual designer Michael Lopez. "You can start from the bottom and work your way up very easily there are so many positions available for anyone who wants to work their way up."
District manager Christi Boudakian said Kohl's has managed to pick up where other failed stores like Mervyn's and Gottschalks have left off. "Kohl's overall, we're opening up 21 new stores just in this grand opening time frame. But 30 for the year which takes us to 1089 stores so a lot of growth; a lot of future growth."
The grand opening of this store and the one in Hanford and Porterville is Wednesday at 7am. This will be the third Kohl's in the Fresno/Clovis area.
