Danville’s Home Depot to open to public Thursday

By Denice Thibodeau

Published: June 24, 2008

The aisles and shelves at Home Depot are just about full, and flowers, lawnmowers and grills already line the sidewalk outside the store.

Staff members are rapidly unpacking the last items still to be stocked, polishing appliances, entering data into computers and generally making sure everything is exactly where it belongs and gleaming in time for the hardware retailer’s Thursday grand opening.

On Tuesday, a training class already was in session for the next group of Home Depot employees.

The doors of the first store in Coleman MarketPlace to open to the public will open at 7 a.m. Thursday, with a ceremony planned for 10 a.m. and the official board-cutting at 5 p.m.

Frank Blake, the chairman and chief executive officer of the Atlanta-based company, will be on hand to take part in the opening.

“We have events planned from Thursday right through Sunday,” Stacey Niblett, the store’s associate coordinator, said Tuesday.

Those events include giveaways, a trivia quiz that WAKG radio will host and Kids Day, which Niblett said she is particularly looking forward to.

All children at the store between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday can participate in a builder workshop and make a small project, enjoy cotton candy or candy apples and take a small train ride.

“We’re really excited about it. The kids will get aprons with their names on them, and while the parents shop, we’ll baby-sit for them,” Niblett said, adding that the store hopes to have Kids Day projects one Saturday a month.

Niblett said she couldn’t release what exact plans for entertainment and giveaways are as yet — management doesn’t want to spoil the surprise — but did say the biggest prizes would be given away on Sunday.

Home Depot’s regular hours will be from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sunday.

• Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.