Nov. 28, 2007 — Just in time for holiday shopping, Kmart has opened a new annex in the Diamond Crest Shopping Center. Customers flocked to the location Wednesday to load up on household appliances and flat-screen televisions and find a bargain.
"There's a lot of values here," said Kmart Business Manager Rosa Rodriguez. " This is a very exciting day for us. The new store opened to the public at 8 a.m."
The public seemed excited, too, with customers ready to shop even before the doors were open. The new store is located in the old Western Auto space across the street from the Sunny Isle Kmart. The automotive service and parts store closed early in the year, followed closely by the movie theater two stores down. Since then, the only occupants of the area had been the V.I. Elections Office. But Wednesday the parking lot was once again full, with shoppers feeling the holiday spirit.
Colin Moorhead was among the crowd of early-morning shoppers. He came to purchase a refrigerator and a range, but did not expect the attention given to him as the first person to make a purchase in the new store.
"My mom told me to buy Kenmore — it’s a good brand," Moorhead said, not quite comfortable with his new celebrity status. "I knew what I wanted to buy, and the price made it better."
Harriet and Wayne Joaquin were seen wheeling a 40-inch flat-screen television on a dolly out of the store's double doors.
"We saved money by not having to ship it down from the States," Harriet said. "We got a wall mount for the television and a DVD player, too."
"It was a good buy," added Wayne, her husband.
The manager of the new annex is Art Niles, who is no stranger to the store: He was the former manager of Western Auto. Both Western Auto and Kmart are Sears stores, and Niles said he feels like he has come back home. His brother Arturo flew over from St. Thomas to congratulate his sibling on his new position and welcome him to the Kmart family. Arturo manages the Tutu Park Kmart on St. Thomas.
Kmart established its first store in Sunny Isles 17 years ago and another on the west end of the island 10 years ago. The annex is 12,000 square feet, and there is space available to expand another 10,000 square feet.
"If everything goes well, we'll expand," said Dexter Cosmo, who oversees media relations for Kmart in the Caribbean.
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