A line of people went through OfficeMax's double sliding doors and down the sidewalk as the chain’s new Juenau location held its Grand Opening Day celebration.
Store manager, Chuck Collins said he counted nearly 80 peopled lined up early outside his store.
With a blast of confetti, Collins used big yellow scissors to cut the ribbon and the crowd walked in, split like water around a rock in a river by the chest-high sphere of a cake shaped like a rubberband ball.
Collins said the first couple weeks since the store’s soft opening on Feb. 2 have been “Better than we expected.” Though there have been some unforeseen issues, he admitted.
“It’s been going well,” Collins said.
Susan Bell, Commissioner of the Department of Commerce, spoke at the ribbon cutting.
Daniel Zettle, Vice President of management in Hawaii and Alaska, said the company is delighted to be in Juneau.
“It’s a great opportunity, not just for the company, but for the city of Juneau as well,” Zettle said.
“It’s something different, something new,” local resident Doug Unruh said. “We wanted to see what it was all about.”
Doug and his wife Linda didn’t have to wait in line, but had heard about the celebration in advance.
They shared a piece of cake and “signed up for the free stuff,” Doug said.
Comments (13)
Add commentI will not be..........
...shopping again at Office Max. The one and only day I went to shop there, I had to literally chase a floor help representative (later found that he was a shift mgr) to obtain assistance. When I asked him for a hardware component for my computer, he stated that Office Max didnt carry the item (perfectly ok response). When I asked him where I could get the item in town he said "buy it online." WHAT? With a multi-million dollar "Look local first" campaign going on, a new box store venue should be able to refer me locally. I expected this kind of betrayal from Office Max, just not so soon. The representative stated implicitly "I am not from here, I dont know where to get the item." Office Max HAD TO HAVE done a market analysis of competitors and perspective stakeholder organizations before applying for a provisional use permit. The management HAS ACCESS to an official document clearly identifying competitors and stakeholders. For a member of management have such deplorable customer service skills and such an unapologetic lack of engagement in HIS OWN business community makes me want to avoid the place... I think I will !!! Additionally, the lack of a connecting mall door shows me that Office Max doesnt give a rip about improving the fiscal condition of the mall that it rents in. What an unfortunate decision to allow this egocentric business to come to Juneau. May their Chapter 13 come quickly !!
Don't be so quick to judge
Wow, CC, you seem quick to condemn a whole company and all of its employees based on one minor issue. I, for one, had a different experience at the grand opening celebration yesterday. I had no problem finding employees eager to assist me. And when an advertised sale item I was not in stock, 2 employees assisted and guaranteed the sale price when the item came in. I am glad to see new businesses in our half-empty hometown malls, and welcome having more local choices on where to spend my dollars.
Welcome!
Welcome to a new business here in Juneau. You will soon find out Juneau has a group of people who sit at home (like concerned citizen, above) who do nothing but complain. Please realize these few people are usually just trying to find something to do, and a way to rile up other people. They sit at home giggling and waiting for responses....its great fun to read their comments, just realize they are mostly unemloyed liberal waifs. Nice looking store!!
Wow!
Wow another place to get a job that pays 7.75- 10.00 bucks an hr. I better hurry an get app. in . Whoop-D- freekin Doo.
Office Max
CC- you must have had a scowl on your face, or smelled bad when you walked into Office Max. My experiance was just the opposite. I walked in with a specific purchase in mind, but wanted to look around. First salesperson comes up to help. "No thanks, just looking" so I walk to the next asile and another salesperson asks the same question, and gets the same answer. Go to another asile and another salesperson asks if she can help me find something. I get what I'm looking for but only scouted out 3 aisles, so now I'll have to go back just to window shop. My take on the store was they were overly helpfull.
well CoastyBear
I'm sure during the grand opening all hands will be on deck, but lets wait and see what today brings. I'm actually going to go there today and check it out and see if I can get some assistance, and good customer service. Hopefully I'll see a local face. Chuck I know is local but they better have hired local people more than not, or they will not receive my business plain and simple.
For the record inserve (self serve) and Coastybear....
I am a vigorously active community member, volunteering and working two jobs. I rarely post here any more and dont have time to sit at home as you so maliciously imply. I did have a very negative experience with a business that seems disconnected from the start from our community. It is most unfortunate that they began this way with me, but thats reality. I spent almost $100 at their store the evening that I visited and practically had to beg them to take the money. They were too busy doing non-customer service related activities (idle chit chat, going into their main offices to do who knows what) to even address me when I was walking across the store following this man to ask for help.I always buy local, I always refer people locally (I work in retail as a second job) and I always help customers find what they need whether in my store or elsewhere in town; they get a LOCAL referral always. I sincerely hope that someone from Office Max reads these comments and takes them to heart. Juneau is a good community that deserves to have its local retailers be a bit more locally loyal than this company has begun its local experience as.
Welcome to Juneau, Office Max!
Pay no attention to the grumpy, negative naysayers in this town. They are very small and loud. Most everyone else is very glad to see new business come to town, particularly when it is a recognized chain. Competition breeds better service and pricing among all the businesses.
Now, if only we could get a few good chain restaurants to come in and stay as well!
Pay no attention to the grumpy naysayers . . .
. . . behind the curtain. They're not the Wizard after all.
We had a very positive experience at OfficeMax on Sunday. We didn't realize it was their grand opening until we got there. While it was packed with shoppers/lookers, an employee wasn't difficult to find and he was very helpful and knowledgeable. Even the lady who checked us out at the register was well trained and friendly, nothing like the ones next door at Petco.
And we appreciate the outside entrance from the parking lot so we don't have to go into the mall.
Be Fair Give Them Time
I don't care what kind of company it is, all companies need time to learn about the community when they start business. Then will be better prepared to serve the whiners. They are a good company, be glad you have them.
LOL!
LOL! I love the look on that guy's face behind the cake!
Miserable People
In reading the comments, it's obvious that some of you people are just miserable human beings. If going to the store angers you so much and causes you such distress, how will you ever deal with any type of adversity in your life? Imagine having to track down a sales person during a grand opening or heaven forbid the hourly wage doesn't meet your salary expectations. I'm sure you're the same people who complain about not having certain chain stores here in Juneau, yet when they do come to town you are the first to dissect the daily operations to find the littlest issues to cry about.
If you don't like the store, then don't go in. If you don't like the hourly wage, then don't apply. If you didn't like the cake, then don't eat it! I would love to go to wherever you work and see how well you perform your job. Please provide us with your latest performance evaluations so we can pick you apart. I'm sure that we would all get a good laugh. Again, please refrain from being such a miserable human being, the crying gets old.
Welcome to Juneau Office Max.
Welcome, Office Max
Welcome to town, Office Max! I hope the extra competition means better prices and better choices throughout the town.
Chuck is a great guy and will have his employees up to speed on everything as soon as he can.
Sounds like Concerned Citizen has had one bad experience - the same type of experience that I've gotten at almost every other store in Juneau, locally-owned or not - and is putting way too much emphasis on it. He/she needs to chill-ax, methinks you doth protest too much!
I think CC was setting this up
CC says he/she was looking for a computer part, when that is not a staple of this type of business. Computer accessories are usually available at a Staples, OfficeMax, or Office Depot - but not so much on a selection of computer hardware parts. The question, "Where can I find it in town" is then loaded to specifically challenge the knowledge of the manager on a product they aren't trained to be familiar with in the first place.
After the CC diatribe of market analysis and other details makes me wonder how long this first-out-of-the-gate poster was waiting to slam OfficeMax.
A market analysis of like stores would yield price point setting recommendations on specific categories of products. It would not yield information of what stores carry products they would not. I might as well have walked in and asked the guy where the best place in town to get carpet for my office is. Yes, you'd find carpet in an office, but not off the shelf at OfficeMax.
Welcome to town OfficeMax - I'll check you out soon!