It’s been a busy weekend as thousands of shoppers flocked to Edmonton’s new outlet mall for it’s grand opening weekend.
“It’s our first Saturday open and we’re very pleased with the results,” said Abigail Alfonso, the marketing and tourism manager at Ivanhoe Cambridge, the developer of the mall.
“We certainly acknowledge that this weekend is special. It’s our first weekend open, so we do expect to have some really high traffic numbers. We definitely hope to keep that momentum going.”
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The mall opened Wednesday to a long line-up of shoppers, some who waited all night long for the doors to open.
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There are no official numbers yet showing exactly how many made their way to the mall, but Alfonso said feedback has been positive.
“We’ve exceeded our expectations so far,” Alfonso said.
While traffic to and from the mall has been high, airport parking lots have remained at about 60 per cent capacity.
“We have a comprehensive traffic management plan in place with the RCMP and EIA, along with Alberta Transportation and Leduc County, and we’ve seen that it’s working very well so far,” she said.
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Mall officials hope to capitalize on the estimated eight million travellers going through Edmonton’s airport every year. Alfonso said staff plan to study the habits of shoppers later this year to see exactly where they’re coming from.
The mall opened its door at about 77 per cent capacity, with more stores planning to open their doors later this summer and early this fall.
“Customers have been very pleased overall,” Alfonso said. “We opened the doors Wednesday morning to thousands of very happy and excited customers. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive – so we’re really pleased with the results.”
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