At Burlington Coat Factory’s ribbon cutting, from left: Russell Schaller, the company’s senior vice president; Colleen Galvin, Department of Small Business Services assistant commissioner; Gail Garramone, executive director of Fashion Delivers; and Thomas Kingsbury and Fred Hand, Burlington’s C.E.O. and executive vice president, respectively.
BY SAM SPOKONY | Union Square welcomed a major new chain store tenant on Friday, as the off-price retailer Burlington Coat Factory opened its flagship location — which clocks in at three stories and 92,000 square feet — two doors over from the Whole Foods Market on Union Square South. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony before the grand opening, Burlington C.E.O. Thomas Kingsbury proudly announced that the store employs more than 500 area residents, many of whom were on hand that morning to cheer about their new jobs.
The company, which offers brand-name clothing for men, women and kids at up to 65 percent off department store prices, celebrated its new flagship with high-profile philanthropy and entertainment. First, in collaboration with the nonprofit Fashion Delivers, Burlington ceremoniously trucked out clothing donations to local charities like Latinos Against Domestic Violence, the Lower East Side Service Center and the Bowery Residents’ Committee. And later that day the store hosted an acoustic concert by pop-rock band Boys Like Girls, which drew a swarm of screaming teenage girls.
The events were apparently good for business, as the Union Square Burlington enjoyed a packed crowd of consumers all day, to go with its fresh-faced staff of locals.
