Macy’s signs spotted at Elk Grove shopping center. When will the department store open?

The new Macy’s in Elk Grove has signage on the building with an “opening soon” banner hanging below.

Spediacci Construction superintendent Jimmy Bednash was inside the store Thursday getting ready for its eventual opening.

Residents are eagerly anticipating the new department store opening at 7261 Laguna Blvd., inside a 31,000-square-foot space located at the Laguna Crossroads shopping center.

“The community has been definitely excited, peeking in. There’s been hundreds of faces every day, smiling. I know everybody’s excited,” Bednash said.

The anticipation is there for the new Macy’s store, first announced in January taking over a space formerly operated by Buy Buy Baby.

Gary and Kathy Silva were a couple of those hundreds who stopped to look inside the new store Thursday afternoon, while out running errands. They could only gaze through the window pane at the empty shelves and the walls filled with artwork.

Are they frequent Macy’s shoppers?

“No, not really,” Gary Silva said. “But it’d be nice to have one.”

Gary’s wife Kathy said she’s happy that she won’t have to commute far to shop there.

“We don’t want to go drive all the way out there (to Arden),” Kathy said. “We’re older. And so this is so convenient because it’s right here where we live. We don’t have to get on the freeway and go everywhere.”

The married couple have lived in Elk Grove for 24 years. They’ve seen the changes throughout the city over the years. Gary said that one thing that’s changed is the traffic.

“There’s just too much damn traffic,” Silva said of Elk Grove’s expansion over the years.

That said, he wasn’t worried about the Laguna Crossroads shopping plaza being overcrowded when Macy’s opens because traffic already exists here.

Kathy agreed, adding that the shopping center has “a lot of parking.”

“Macy’s is here,” she said. “We don’t have to go to Arden Fair.”

How soon will Macy’s open?

A Macy’s spokesperson confirmed in a text to The Sacramento Bee that Macy’s is expected to open in August but did not provide a specific date. The spokesperson said that an official date would be given at a later time.

The building itself is very close to being ready.

“We’re finalizing all of our patchwork,” Bednash said. “We’re basically down to the nitty-gritty punch list of just getting all the fixtures in place, making the place clean. We’re actually almost 100% done and we got a couple of inspections today that we’re going to feel great about.”

Spediacci is a general contractor with retail and commercial buildings who’s been working with Macy’s for more than 25 years, Bednash said.

“This project actually went fairly fast,” he said. “We’ve been in the building for a little under four months and completion is right around the corner.”

‘Our own little mall’

Raja Braich joked on Thursday afternoon as he passed the soon-to-open Macy’s department store on his way to Target.

“It’s big. I mean, it’s pretty cool. I’m really excited about that,” he said. “We needed it. This is becoming a hub in Elk Grove … There’s plenty of restaurants. It’s like our own little mall over here. I love it.”

Braich has been an Elk Grove resident since 2006 and he too isn’t worried at the moment about a potential increase in traffic.

“They’re managing it pretty well, I guess,” Braich said. “People are pretty courteous and they drive well in Elk Grove, so I’m OK with it.”

Braich believes that Macy’s will provide some competition to the Nordstrom Rack that recently opened in May just down the road at The Ridge shopping center on Bruceville Road and Elk Grove Boulevard.

Overall, Braich is happy that more of these stores are coming to Elk Grove. Like the Silvas, he’s glad that he and residents no longer have to drive miles to places like Arden or Roseville for these shopping options.