Excitement building ahead of Premium Outlet Collection Mall’s opening

The Premium Outlet Collection Mall, just east of Edmonton International Airport (EIA), will open for the first time on Wednesday, and there’s a lot of excitement from retailers and mall staff ahead of the grand opening.

Marketing and tourism manager Abigail Alfonso is expecting thousands of people to check out the mall over the first couple of days, and tens of thousands by the end of the first week.

And Alfonso says you may want to consider coming early.

“We’re going to be doing a big door-crasher [event], so the first 1,000 people lined up at Entrance 4 will get a $50 Premium Outlet Collection EIA Gift Card, as well as 15 per cent discounts for a new Air Canada flight to San Francisco.”

Other contests for opening week include VIP tickets to the 2018 Grey Cup in Edmonton amd two trips to San Francisco. Former Edmonton Oiler Fernando Pisani will also be at the mall Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

READ MORE: How to get to the outlet mall near the Edmonton International Airport

If you do plan to check out the mall on Wednesday, Alfonso says they have been talking with RCMP and EIA to ensure traffic flows smoothly at the airport and at the mall. The mall has more than 2,200 parking stalls at the shopping centre and room for overflow parking if needed. On site, they’ll have additional support, janitorial and customer service staff to help shoppers.

She also says many of the retailers will be bringing on more staff to deal with demand.

More than 100 retailers will be filling spots when the mall reaches full capacity and Alfonso says more than three-quarters of stores have been filled for opening day, including H&M, a Nike Factory Store and Marshalls.

Alfonso says negotiations are always taking place with potential retailers but it can’t hurt to have a good start.

“Certainly, some retailers prefer to wait and see, see how the opening goes… some of the leasing people would be watching out for that, see how the first week, first month goes.”

The mall will open at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.