The City of Tukwila took a temporary population jump Friday.<\/p>\n
A grand-opening celebration at the Westfield Southcenter mall drew approximately 97,000 people for the day; 8,000 of whom were at the mall by its 10 a.m. opening time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a wonderful way to kick off the new Westfield Southcenter,\u201d said Jason Hamilton, senior vice president for Richmond Public Relations, which is handling the renovated mall\u2019s publicity.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone enjoyed the early-morning festivities, as well as being able to see the 75 new shops,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cIt was exactly what Westfield hoped it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opening ceremony, which featured speeches by Gov. Christine Gregoire and Tukwila Mayor James Haggerton, as well as live entertainment and free scratch-off tickets for mall merchandise, was to celebrate a major expansion and face lift of the 40-year-old retail center. The mall\u2019s 40th anniversary, in fact, is July 31.<\/p>\n
A $240 million renovation project has expanded the mall by 400,000 square feet, and attracted another 75 shops to do business there, including five signature restaurants, 17 casual-dining eateries, a 16-screen AMC Theatre and a number of high-end retail outlets, including Swedish clothing company H&M, PINK, White House\/Black Market and Sephora. That brings the grand total of space and stores to 1.7 million square feet and 200 stores – making it the largest shopping mall in the Pacific Northwest, according to Westfield officials.<\/p>\n
For more information about the mall and its renovations, visit www.westfield.com\/southcenter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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