Wasilla community parties with Home Depot

WASILLA -- Parking spaces were scarce Wednesday night as thousands of Wasilla residents drove through falling snow, walked past the bright orange lights to Home Depot's new 137,000-square-foot store and began filling hundreds of shopping carts with everything from power tools to garden supplies.

The grand-opening celebration was packed with residents and local politicians, eager to take advantage of sales on more than 35,000 home-improvement items.

An enthusiastic crowd roared when Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller cut the ceremonial board, effectively christening the new store and ushering in a new age of home-improvement shopping in the Valley. The ceremonies concluded with an employee leading the enthusiastic crowd through a traditional Home Depot cheer.

Then, with music pumping from large speakers, a spokesman yelled out, "The registers are now open. Have fun, guys."

According to Home Depot's Web page, the first store opened in Atlanta in 1979 and now, 25 years later, there are more than 1,810 stores, with one new store opening every 48 hours. The Home Depot employs more than 300,000 people and serves more than 22.3 million customers weekly.

Wednesday's customers, including several local politicians, expressed excitement about everything from shorter checkout lines to immediate pocketbook savings.

"They bring good prices and good competition," state Sen. Lyda Green, R-Mat-Su, said. "My heart starts palpitating when I come into these kinds of stores. I love them."

Mat-Su Borough Assembly Member Jim Colver joined Green in praising the new store. He said the store's opening means fewer Valley residents will have to drive to Anchorage to buy home-improvement items.

"This place has everything," he said. "People are looking for value and selection, so this is huge for us. I wouldn't be surprised to see more industrial development like this."

While Home Depot doesn't have immediate plans for more Valley stores, it is planning to open two more stores in Anchorage in 2005 -- one in north Anchorage in the former Kmart building and one in south Anchorage.

Development in Wasilla shows no signs of slowing down, however, with Lowe's -- the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world -- set to open Dec. 14, less than half a mile from Home Depot.

Palmer resident Donald O'Malley said he was thrilled just to browse through the new merchandise with his fellow retired friends.

"I'm super excited," O'Malley said. "Now that Home Depot and Lowe's are here, this is a smorgasbord for do-it-yourselfers. We're going to come down here on Wednesdays, go aisle to aisle and drool over these things."

Store manager D.J. Desjardin said the store is meant to inspire customers to make improvements on their homes.

"We want to be a company that gives back to the community and drives down the cost of home improvement," he said.

With 140 employees working in 12 different departments, there are thousands of items to entice Valley consumers. The various departments include building materials, lumber, doors/windows, bath, plumbing, kitchen, flooring, storage and a 35,000-square-foot garden center. In addition, the store offers clinics on everything from interior design to building picnic tables.

According to spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher, the most popular clinics are decorative painting and flooring solutions.

For the big-time professionals a contractor's desk is available where customers with commercial accounts can place larger orders. Gallagher said commercial accounts make up about 30 percent of their overall business.

Certified interior designers are also on staff to offer design suggestions for bedrooms, bathrooms, ceiling plans and other household areas.

For those who want to purchase items from Home Depot but don't have the time or skills to install light fixtures, sinks or cabinets, the store offers its at-home-services program.

"We employ local contractors to install items for our customers," Gallagher said. "We call those customers the 'do-it-for-me-generation.'"

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.