In their first month of operations at a brand new mall north of Calgary, the owners of Korean B&H have been the only game in town but that will soon change as several other stores are set to open in the coming weeks.
Sally Seong and her husband have been running their store in New Horizon Mall in Balzac since June 21.
“I am selling organic and affordable skin care products and Canadian health supplements,” explained Seong. “These days, Korean skin care products are more popular in the world.”
“Most Korean women look young.”
Hundreds of vacant, but sold, units surround the Seongs store but Sally says she’s seldom alone and sales are steady despite the fact the mall’s grand opening is months away.
“Every day I’m selling my product. There are some people that come every day. Especially weekends are more busy.”
Natasha Bourdon, marketing manager for New Horizon Mall, says all of the mall’s 500 units and 26 food courts outlets have been purchased. The date for the opening of each store is at the discretion of the individual owners.
“The official grand opening is taking place on Saturday, October 27,” said Bourdon. “We’re hoping that the majority of store owners will be available to open on October 27, although that’s not 100 per cent confirmed, but the majority of stores will be open.”
Bourdon says it’s surprising to see the lone open store in a sea of empty shops doing so well but it speaks to the efforts of the Seongs. “The funny thing is they’re doing exceptionally well. You would think that with only one store open in the mall that maybe there’s not much traffic but they have a lot of presence on social media.”
The malls doors are open to the public during regular hours and the building, located south of CrossIron Mills, is drawing the curious. “A lot of people are just really interested in the mall, the layout, what to expect over the next couple of months so they’re certainly seeing a lot of traffic coming in every day.”
The Seongs will soon have company as a second retail outlet was expected to open Wednesday with additional stores slated to open soon. “We do have another store that’s called D Fashion Boutique that will be opening later today if not tomorrow which is very exciting,” said Bourdon on Wednesday. “Then we have a couple stores that are trending to open in the next two to three weeks.”
Both Bourdon and Seong eagerly await the arrival of more stores and additional customers in the coming months.
“We’re so excited,” said Bourdon. “It’s such a different concept for the Alberta market and there’s nothing like New Horizon Mall inside Alberta. For those small business owners who are really looking to make their dream a reality, this is the perfect place to do it. A very multicultural mall that really brings people together.”
Seong says she looks forward to seeing the completed building and the crowds of people by year’s end.
With files from CTV’s Kathy Le
