New Mervyn's Projected To Be Chain's Biggest Earner In State

TUKWILA

Mervyn's department store here will not open until Nov. 15, but the company already projects it will be the chain's biggest grossing Washington store.

Based on robust sales at other Southcenter Mall department stores, Mervyn's expects the new store's annual sales to be in the $25 million to $30 million range, far above the average Mervyn's, which does $17 million a year.

Construction workers are putting finishing touches on the 87,000-square-foot building, which will be the 15th Mervyn's in the state. Mervyn's is based in Hayward, Calif. To match the bullish sales projections and design criteria of other Southcenter stores, this Mervyn's will also be one of the most opulent in the 275-store chain, with such architectural details as scroll-work on interior support columns.

Most Mervyn's have a plainer look, more in keeping with the chain's middle-market appeal.

"Everybody's real pumped about the opening," says Janet Mehan, the store's general manager. "I've never seen a Mervyn's that looked like this."

The Southcenter Mervyn's will employ 250 people in sales, warehouse, stocking and office jobs. More than 1,100 people turned out at a recent job fair to apply for those positions.

Many of the applicants are laid-off Frederick and Nelson workers. Mervyn's will pick its staff in the next two weeks.

Mehan and other managers are working long hours, six days a week, from a command post in leased office space not far from the mall, preparing for the opening.

But Mehan is happy to be on the hot seat. The 15-year Mervyn's veteran asked for the assignment, wanting a change after working her entire career in California. Washington is now the company's strongest state, with sales running, on average, 9 percent above last year.

Half of Mervyn's stores are in California, and sales there are largely flat this year, Mehan says.

"It's a tough market in California," she says.

Mehan is not worried that the new store will lure some business away from its SeaTac Mall store. The Federal Way Mervyn's also has strong sales, above $20 million a year, and stores in Factoria and Tacoma are peforming well, too.

Mehan attributes Mervyn's strong sales in Washington to the state's relatively healthy economy and the chain's back-to-the-basics merchandise. Mervyn's sells mainly clothing, positioning itself somewhere between more upscale stores, such as Nordstrom, and low-priced chains such as K-Mart.

When Mervyn's opens on Southcenter's northwest end, it will be joined by 11 other smaller retailers, located in the wing attaching the mall and the two-story department store.