The blizzard that struck the New Jersey area on Dec. 27 delayed the opening of the Bayonne Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, which was scheduled for the same time. But lines of people were waiting outside the center’s doors the next morning, soon putting a sizeable dent in the stores stock of snow shovels, ice melting salt, and the inventory of snow blowers.
The store was scheduled to open at 6 a.m. on Dec. 27, boasting more than 32,000 items stocked during the last few weeks.
Lowe’s, the national home improvement store chain, is the anchor for the new $130 million Bayonne Crossing shopping center – a mall that is expected to generate more than 800 jobs. The prime tenant will take up 145,000 square feet of retail space.
“Many of the people live so close they can walk to the store.” – Rod Kenel
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Included in the festivities, was a Gift Card Match Day, in which Lowe’s would donate up to $5,000 to Newark Habitat for Humanity’s next project from the sale of Lowe’s gift cards that day.
“Lowe’s is our biggest national sponsor,” said Carol Paster of Habitat for Humanity, a charity that helps build houses for low-income tenants.
120 jobs
The home improvement store has 94,000 square feet of retail sales space, with an adjacent garden center, stocking 32,000 different items to help customers build, improve, and beautify their homes. A store of this size represents an average investment in the community of approximately $12 million and creates up to 120 new jobs.
Rod Kenel, sales manager for Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, said that while it was disappointing not to have the store open on time, the crowds out front the next day made for a warm reception, giving the new store an immediate boost in first day sales.
He said the store currently employees 140 people, many of them from Bayonne as a result of a local recruitment effort over the last few months.
“Many of the people live so close they can walk to the store,” he said.
Lowe’s will be hosting another open house, a grand opening for contractors, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 6, with the hopes of bringing out local government and tradespeople.
The garden center will be ready by spring.
Lowe’s also donated $1,000 to the Family Community Center, the former YMCA on Avenue E, to help out with the day care center there.
Kenel said he looked over their facilities and the work they do and was very impressed.
This, in some ways, brings the Bayonne Family Community Center full circle, since the original Y was established by Standard Oil early in the 20th century to help serve the workers of Bayonne. Kenel said that many Bayonne people rely on the services of the Community Center.
Councilman Joseph Hurley said having Lowe’s will be a great asset to the city, allowing residents to shop locally who would otherwise travel out of town.
He said this site will bring in additional revenue in local taxes, sales tax as part of the Urban Enterprise Zone, and will also generate jobs for local residents.
Joseph Santangelo, Lowe’s store manager, joined in the traditional cheer led by Kelly Montgomery. He said that the current 140 employees were those selected from 5,000 applications received. He said the store’s opening was to the credit of these employees, who worked very hard to get it ready.
Mayor Smith said this was a big win for the city and that Lowe’s and the Bayonne Crossing mall have done good things for the city, and that the mall was the only mall project in the state of New Jersey to have broken ground in 2009.
“Here we are a year later seeing this store open,” Smith said.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.