The latest tenant is officially open at the Emporia Pavilions.
Maurices has been open for a week, but the store had grand opening activities Thursday, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The store had been at Flinthills Mall since 1975. Store manager Tabitha Rues credited mall management, including current manager Clarence Frye and his staff, for being great business partners for nearly 50 years.
Rues also says — at least initially — traffic has increased with the move.
Rues says being a new store also means more product to put on shelves for shoppers, but that does not include the Evsie brand. Maurices is discontinuing the girls brand later this year.
Maurices is the first existing business to move from a local location to the Pavilions. All other retailers — Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, Ross, Shoe Sensation, Five Below and Old Navy — are well-established at a regional or national level. Old Navy is tentatively set to open next month. Developer Spencer Thomson is working on another phase of new stores as well as restaurants.
