Big Lots Officially Open

Big Lots opened a new 21,000 square-foot store on Rohnert Park's west side Friday — one of 80 stores the mega-retailer will open this year, and one of California's 180 locations.

Officials from the City Council, Rohnert Park's Chamber of Commerce and Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified welcomed the store's opening at a 9 a.m. ribbon cutting.

"On behalf of the city of Rohnert Park, we welcome this new company to our town — these are times that are tough for all of us, we as a city know that, and all of you know that," said Vice Mayor Jake Mackenzie to a crowd of about 70 shoppers lined up outside the store."This is something that is going to help generate revenue."

Big Lots operates 1,400 stores across the country, and this new location is one of three along the Highway 101 corridor north of San Francisco. Novato's location closed about a year ago, and the other two are in Santa Rosa and Ukiah.

"We thought Rohnert Park was a great place to expand," said Scott Baumbach, the district manager for Big Lots. "We see a down economy as an opportunity to grow; a lot of real estate is vacant and that has allowed us to expand."

Baumbach said Rohnert Park's store is just one of three openings today. The location currently has 55 employees.

"We're really excited to be here, and we wanted to contribute to the community," Baumbach said, as he handed John Reed Elementary's principal, Amy Goodwin, a check for $2,500.

"Welcome to the neighborhood," Goodwin said. "We'll use this for after-school enrichment and academic interventions — for example, if a student needs extra help in math or wants to work on an art project."

Editor's note: Councilmember Pam Stafford welcomed the business, as well as the city's new economic devlopment manager, Linda Babonis, City Engineer Darrin Jenkins and Fire Marshal Dan Adam, amongst others.