Two new Westdale stores to open this week

CEDAR RAPIDS - Two new retailers at Westdale will open their doors to shoppers this week and more openings are planned next month.

Shoe Dept. Encore, a North Carolina-based chain with more than 1,100 stores in 44 states, will open on Friday in the lower level of the former Von Maur department store building.

The store will occupy about 10,000 square feet of space and sell name-brand shoes in an open-stock floor plan, according to Lisa Rowe, Westdale general manager and vice president of Frew Development Group, which is redeveloping the former Westdale Mall.

Shoe Dept. Encore also operates stores in Cedar Falls, Davenport, Newton and Quad Cities.

Ross Dress for Less, a Dublin, Calif., off-price apparel and home fashion retailer, will open a 22,000-square-foot store Saturday on the lower level of the 99,000-square-foot former Von Maur building.

Ross will carry in-season, name brand and designer apparel, accessories, footwear and home fashions at savings of 20 percent to 60 percent off department and specialty store regular prices, according to a corporate profile.

Rowe said Ross expects to have about 27 employees full and part time. The Cedar Rapids store is the second for the chain in Iowa - a Davenport location opened last year).

Rowe said PetSmart, a Phoenix-based pet supply chain, is planning a Nov. 4 grand opening for its Westdale store.

'PetSmart will probably have a soft store opening sometime after Oct. 28,” Rowe said.

PetSmart, which has a store on Collins Road NE in Cedar Rapids, operates about 1,500 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and has and 204 in-store PetSmart PetsHotel boarding facilities.

Rowe added that a Nov. 16 ribbon-cutting ceremony is set for the new First Federal Credit Union office at the corner of Williams Boulevard and Westdale Drive SW. First Federal will occupy half the 7,600-square-foot building, with the remaining portion used for either leased space or future expansion.

Rowe said construction of the 82-room Tru by Hilton hotel at Westdale is on schedule.

'We should be turning over the building to (the operator, Kinseth Hospitality of North Liberty) in December and we're looking for a grand opening in January,” she said. 'The guest rooms on the top floor have been painted and tiles have been stalled in the bathrooms.”

Rowe said there have been expressions of interest by two sit-down restaurant chains as the Tru by Hilton project has progressed. She said Frew Development also is working with two potential tenants for the top floor of the former Von Maur building.