By RACHEL BRANT

Staff writer

As the sun rose over Silverdale, Kohl’s employees, Kitsap Mall management and dedicated customers braved the cold to attend the department store’s grand opening celebration shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Kohl’s is the newest addition to Kitsap Mall and sits in the spot left vacant by Mervyns. The store officially opened Sunday, Nov. 11, but celebrated its grand opening early Wednesday morning.

“I’m just very glad to have this empty building become a great shopping place,” said Allysa Lynhart, who traveled from Port Orchard for the 7 a.m. grand opening.

Fifteen Kohl’s department stores opened across the United States this month and the Silverdale location outdid its fellow stores by selling more than $110,000 worth of merchandise the first day of business.

“We’ve been No. 1 everywhere during the soft opening process,” said Denise Lemke, Silverdale store manager. “We’ve just wiped out the other stores. My team did a great job.”

Lemke said Kohl’s was filled with customers Sunday for its soft opening with people buying everything from clothing to kitchenware.

“You would have thought it was the day after Thanksgiving,” she said with a smile.

Lemke said the misses update department recorded the most sales during the past few days. The section includes dress and casual clothing for the professional woman such as slacks, skirts and suits.

During the grand opening, Lemke gave Kitsap Mall management officials a store tour and thanked her employees for all their hard work and dedication to the department store.

“This is the day we’ve all been working so very, very hard for,” Lemke told her employees before the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Construction delays forced the 150-member Kohl’s staff to work extra hard to open the department store, but Lemke said they were phenomenal and put in long hours to get the large store ready to open.

“We did almost seven days of work in two days, but my team rose to the challenge,” she said.

Lemke named Carole Oberloh the Associate of the Month and allowed her to cut the red ribbon at Wednesday’s grand opening celebration. Oberloh was surprised and thankful to have been recognized for her work at the Silverdale store.

Lemke said the Silverdale community has been excited and supportive of the newest department store to open in the area. She is pleased with the outpouring of support and well wishes.

“Everybody’s so excited about it,” Lemke said. “They’ve been calling and wishing us luck.”

Lynhart arrived at Kohl’s promptly at 7 a.m. to shop with a friend from Bremerton. She first shopped at a Kohl’s store in California and was thrilled to have one open closer to her home in Port Orchard.

“I have bought so many things from the store in Santa Clara (California) that I’m so happy there is one here now,” Lynhart said.

Lynhart enjoys shopping the jewelry section of Kohl’s, but says the prices throughout the store cannot be beat.

“You can’t beat the prices and the people are friendly and helpful,” she said.

Kohl’s is a “destination shop,” according to Lemke and carries a wide variety of products including clothing, shoes and accessories for men, women and children as well as kitchen accessories, bedding, cosmetics, luggage, jewelry and more.

“It’s a destination spot from Port Orchard to Port Angeles,” Lemke said.

After having such a successful opening, Lemke anticipates Kohl’s will have strong sales throughout the holiday season.

“I think that we’re going to have a phenomenal holiday season,” she said.