Sale Might Be Costly in the Long Haul

Well, it seemed like a good deal at the time.

Pauline DeGenito of Burbank was excited when she received an invitation in the mail to a 10%-off sale at the new Sears department store.

“Because you’re one of our valued Sears charge customers, you’re invited to a special preview party at Sears,” the festively colored envelope said.

DeGenito thought it would be a great opportunity to check out the new Sears, one of the anchors of the long-awaited Media City Center mall that is under construction in downtown Burbank.

It was then that she noticed something weird about the announcement. The preview party was at the new Sears, all right--but the new Sears in Pineville, N.C., not Burbank.

“I thought it was funny,” said DeGenito, a nurse at St. Joseph Medical Center. “However, there’s no way I’m going to North Carolina for a sale.”

More than a few Burbank residents, including Mayor Michael R. Hastings, received the notices for the preview day sale at the Carolina Place Mall, which was scheduled for Monday, and the store’s grand opening, slated for today.

The Burbank Sears isn’t set to open until the end of the month. Executives with Sears were not available for comment. Officials for the city of Burbank and the Alexander Haagen Co., the developers of the mall, were trying on Tuesday to figure out what happened.

Diana Novak, director of marketing for the Haagen Co., said the Burbank store was planning the same sort of preview sale. But it was unknown whether North Carolina Sears customers got invitations to that sale.

“We’ve been trying to get in touch with Sears to find out what’s going on,” she said.

Kimble Smith, a 17-year Burbank resident who also received the invitation, said he was miffed when he realized it was a mistake.

“I was really looking forward to it,” Smith said. “Needless to say, it’s a minor inconvenience to go to North Carolina--especially on such short notice.”

“I’m sure Sears will find some way to rectify this,” Hastings said.