By By SPIROS GALLOS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - It's not everyday there's a 60-foot Keebler Elf and box of cheese crackers stationed outside a Wal-Mart.
Then again, it's not everyday that a Wal-Mart Supercenter has a grand opening either.
The Niles' Wal-Mart, 2107 S. 11th St., officially opened its doors as a supercenter earlier today at 7:30 a.m.
The grand-opening celebration has many special events planned throughout the day. Tony the Tiger and Chester Cheetah will make special appearances.
Children will also be able to get their faces painted, or take a picture with Flash the Talking Fire Truck from the Niles City Fire Department. The department will also be conducting demonstrations throughout the day.
The Niles and Howard Township Fire Departments will be on hand as well. Howard fire fighters will give smokehouse safety demonstrations and Niles Township will have a display truck at the celebration.
The Niles City and Township Police Departments will be in attendance as well to conduct car safety seat checks.
At a pre-grand opening event for invited guests and associates Tuesday, Carlson, along with Community Relations Coordinator Mary Jane Davis, showcased the stores new addition and features.
The 90,000 sq. ft. grocery section, which brings the stores total space to 198,000 sq. ft., features a snack bar, where shoppers can buy pizza and snacks while shopping, a deli, where customers can buy rotisserie chickens, various salads and other delicious goodies.
Customers can also order platters and have events catered by the deli as well.
The lawn and garden section of the store received an outdoor greenhouse addition.
The greenhouse can be heated in the cold winter months to allow plants for sale to be on display all year round.
The focus of the store is community. There will be a community wall set up in the store in the near future, showcasing community events and organizations.
For the grand opening, the Niles store contributed more than $14,500 to area non-profit organizations through Wal-Mart's Good Works community involvement program.
All the refrigeration units for the store were provided by Niles-based Tyler Refrigeration and about half the store's produce is supplied by Shelton's Farm Market, Davis said.
With the new supercenter comes new jobs.
The store hired 150 new associates to add to an already impressive number of 200 associates, Carlson said.
Sather hopes the addition of the supercenter will draw other big name retailers to the area.