Coldwater Creek center's growth leads to rare sale: ; Wood facility to handle vendor's national orders

balow@wvgazette.com

The Parkersburg distribution center of Coldwater Creek Inc.,which now fills catalog and Internet orders for East Coastcustomers, will soon become the company's national direct salesfulfillment center.

To clear floor space, the vendor of upscale women's clothing andhome furnishings is planning a rare event. On July 21, it will openthe doors of its sprawling Wood County center to the public for thefirst time for a benefit sale.

Keep in mind one important fact, though - none of the more than70,000 items to be offered for sale is first-quality merchandise.

"It's a seconds sale," said Karen Clark, human resources directorfor the 600,000-square-foot center near Mineral Wells.

Seconds or not, Clark is expecting a crowd. About 1,000 peopleshowed up for a private, by-invitation-only sale more than threeyears ago, when the company was still operating in a temporarywarehouse, she said.

"We have had so many requests from the public, we decided thiswould be a good time," Clark said Monday.

Proceeds from the $3-a-person cover charge will benefit threearea organizations: Partners in Education - Mineral Wells ElementarySchool; the Wood County Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation;and the Coldwater Creek and Mineral Wells Elementary School CityPark Project.

The sale will also clear the way for the center's expanded roleas the nationwide distribution center for all Coldwater Creekcatalog and Internet sales, she said.

"It's a huge vote of confidence for our facility from the boardof directors," Clark said. "This July 20 is when the transition willtake place. As you can imagine, we have the trucks coming in herenow.

"We're in a hiring situation now. We're hiring Web agents and forour call center. We've hired about 100 people at the distributioncenter in the last month. It's good news."

Company spokesman David Gunter said the Parkersburg center hasbeen preparing for its national distribution role for about a year.The change will free a warehouse near Coldwater Creek headquartersin Sandpoint, Idaho, to serve the company's growing network ofretail stores, he said.

"Parkersburg has been so productive for us and has been a smooth-running facility," Gunter said. "They are getting an enormous numberof packages out the door every day."

More than 90 percent of Coldwater Creek sales are made by catalogor Internet, he said. Internet sales have grown from less than 1percent two years ago to 31 percent now, and could reach 35 percentby the end of the year.

The July 21 sale is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Based on experience, some people may show up early, Clark said.

"I know being a survivor of the private sales in Idaho, we hadpeople camping out in the parking lot overnight," she said.

"We had people show up in Winnebagos. It was pretty amazing."

To contact staff writer Jim Balow, use e-mail or call 348-5102.