Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Friday For New Roseville Gordmans Department Store

Gordmans, a niche low-price department store operator, is scheduled to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday mornng to celebrate the grand opening of its  new Roseville store.

The Omaha-based retailer has opened its new 65,000 square-foot store quarters on the lower level of the Crossroads of Roseville shopping center, 1663 County Road B2 West. The Roseville location is the 75th U.S. store for Gordmans, which is an apparel and home fashions retailer.

The ceremony is slated to start at 9 a.m. with company CEO Jeff Gordman participating in the event. Also, a bevy of local civic and businesses officials will be on hand.

The dignitaries include Roseville Mayor Dan Roe, City Councilman Jeff Johnson,  St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Kramer, Roseville schools director of public relations Karen Schaub, Roseville Police Chief Rick Mathwig and City Fire Chief Tim O'Neill.

As part of the festivities, Gordmans will present a $2,500 check to Roseville Area School District 623. Its donation will be made to Central Park Elementary in connection with the Partners in Education program. Partners in Education is a program for businesses, government agencies, civic groups and faith organizations to make additional educational resources available to local public school systems.

Gordmans’ customers at the new store also may participate in this event by purchasing “helping hands” for $1 each from now through March 25, the company said. Every dollar raised will directly benefit the school district.

Since its involvement with Partners in Education starting in 2000, Gordmans has donated more than  $976,000 to public school systems in 16 states throughout the nation.

Meanwhile,  in bringing its newest store to Roseville, “our mission is to delight our guests (customers) with big savings, big selection and fun, friendly associates,” Gordman said in a press statement. “We believe that our fantastic values on name brand apparel, accessories and home decor at up to 60 percent off department and specialty store prices every day has enabled our expansion in Minnesota and across the U.S. Offering such incredible deals on a wide array of fashion-oriented merchandise really seems to resonate with our guests.”

Gordmans' store space previously housed a movie theater and indoor mini-golf park. The Crossroads mall is about 355,000 square feet and its other tenants include Kohl's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Ulta and Noodles & Co.

Twin Cities retail academic Dave Brennan said the arrival of Gordmans into the metro area is part of more value-oriented merchants coming into our market. "This (Gordmans) is a companion to Kohl's and it's a pretty good fit," said Brennan, co-director of the Institute for Retailing Excellence at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. "Once you get this size and cluster of valued-oriented retail, it makes the (Crossroads) center all that stronger."

Brennan added that the Crossroads mall, just north of the regional Rosedale Center, is a "good location. I think it will be a good market for them (Gordmans)."

Currently, Gordmans has two other Twin Cities locations, one at Burnsville Center in Burnsville; the other at Tamarack Village in Woodbury. It is primarily a retailer of apparel and home fashions. 

Gordmans dates back to 1915. Its stores are located primarily Midwestern states situated in a variety of shopping center developments, including regional enclosed shopping malls, lifestyle centers and power centers. For more information, visit www.gordmans.com.