Bed, Bath and Beyond store opens in northern Douglas County

One group of was looking for the cookies. It was a grand opening, after all.

Seeing none, they continued down the bright new aisles filled with freshly stocked bath and bedroom merchandise Wednesday afternoon at the newly opened Bed, Bath & Beyond store in northern Douglas County.

There were no free cookies, goodies or special sales to be found, but a few people were drawn to turn into the shopping center and browse through the aisles.

"I was driving to Wal-Mart and saw the Grand Opening sign," said Connie Kohler of Carson City. "It has really good selections. It's nice to get some good stores here."

The store plans to advertise its opening in the next few days with newspaper ads, said district operations manager Graham Berg. They rely on shoppers to tell others of the opening. The store's first day was Tuesday.

"It's such a word-of-mouth thing," Berg said.

The store is smaller than the Reno outlet but offers many of the same items, he said. The Carson store is the company's 517th in the nation.

The store opening was quiet compared to the amount of publicity the new shopping center and local Wal-Mart installation has brought to the area in the past year. As shops begin to open at the Carson Valley Plaza promising to boost Douglas County sales revenue, Carson City retail is expected to continue declining.

Berg said the location was key to the company's decision to build at the site.

"It's an area we wanted to be in," Berg said. "Reno's done very well for us. We wanted to serve customers over here a little bit better."

The store carries bed linens, bath accessories, window treatments, kitchen linens, cookware, dinnerware, glassware, personal accessories, closet and storage items and a bridal registry. It also offers a low-price guarantee and therefore doesn't ever have storewide sales, Berg said.

"We're constantly trying to make sure we're the most competitive," Berg said. "People can come in and feel comfortable. It's what makes it fun to be here."

Michaels, an arts and crafts store, will open at the center Sunday and will offer free gifts to the first 100 adults and 100 kids to visit, according to a mailer received by residents Wednesday.

Home electronics giant Best Buy will open Sept. 19.