Big name retailers 'NOT' Coming soon
Real or fake? Some big name retail stores are creating quite the buzz around Anchorage, and they didn't even know about it.
In the past few weeks, a number of signs have started popping up around town creating excitement about new stores headed our way, like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and LEGO. Those signs have been found hanging on wire fencing outside a vacant lots. Most recently, a sign for Trader Joe's appeared on Northern Lights and a banner for LEGO showed up on 5th Ave.
"I wish I could tell you it was true, but it's not," said Bill Popp, Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. "We've seen the Whole Food's sign, Trader (Joe's) Vick's sign and all of them are just not true."
Although the signs look real, the municipality of Anchorage, property owners and Trader Joe's corporate office, have confirmed individually, that there are no plans for Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or LEGO to open up in Anchorage.
"It's an interesting trend that I'm actually enjoying the people of Anchorage (are) expressing what they want to see in their town, and they want to see improvement," Popp said. "They want to see new retailers for sure, but they want to see Anchorage progressing, they want to see new investment in our community."
When a new retailer comes to town, often Alaskans welcomes them with open arms and an open wallet, so it's no surprise many were very excited when they heard the rumors.
"We hear a lot of different folks wanting a lot of different things in anchorage and we're a consumer society, we love to spend money in Alaska," said Popp. "We constantly set records for sales per square foot, grand opening sales, lines stretched across the parking lot when a new major retailer that everybody wants."
Despite Alaska's current recession, which Popp says has forced many companies to hold off on making a move, there are a few major brands, including Marshalls and Dave & Buster's, which are coming to town.
