No-Frills Fanfare

When it comes to opening a new Bloomingdale’s store, the San Fernando Valley gets less than the gala treatment.

Last weekend in Century City, the debut of a Bloomie’s brought out such celebrities as Magic Johnson, Penny Marshall and Michael Ovitz. On Saturday in the Valley, the only celebrity in sight for the opening of the Bloomingdale’s at Sherman Oaks Fashion Square was Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer, unless you count the two people who worked the crowd dressed as brown paper bags.

“The real party was downtown,” said Andrew Singer, a Sherman Oaks resident who was part of the less-than-overflowing crowd on hand for the opening ceremony. “But they’ve done a nice job with this place.”

The local ribbon-cutting ceremony did include some theatricality. When it came time to cut the ribbon, store General Manager Gale Snyder told the crowd she couldn’t find a pair of scissors. Just then, a man wearing a jet pack flew in from the parking structure to save the day.

Customers streaming inside were then entertained by jazz bands and costumed entertainers on 4-foot stilts hovering near the cosmetics counters.

As the day wore on, crowds increased considerably. By midafternoon, shoppers had trouble finding space in the mall lot, and the escalators inside Bloomie’s were so jammed that security personnel urged patrons to “step right off,” lest there be a human pileup.

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Some of the first-day patrons said they had been looking forward to the store opening for weeks.

“All my friends are coming here, just to shop here. It’s a little overwhelming,” said Polly Bar of Valley Village as she examined leather handbags.

But Bar, who is a New York native, said the famed Bloomingdale’s store in her hometown is still unique. “Nothing will compare with that,” she said. “This is sort of a microcosm of the New York store.”

Then, suddenly, Bar remembered one of the original store’s idiosyncrasies. “Do they have a meat department here?” she asked.

They do not. But a good cut of meat seemed to be one of the few pleasures of life missing from the store. This new Bloomie’s might not be as large or idiosyncratic as its parent, but it stays true to the chain’s upscale image. Shoppers milled around shelves of leopard-skin makeup bags, $137 paella pans and hangers holding Armani dresses that cost more than some used cars. A model dressed as Barbie greeted everyone who neared a large display of the dolls, including one version clad in Calvin Klein gear.

“Oooh, hi!” she called out to a terrified 3-year-old. “How many Barbies do you have?

For the most part, shoppers remained civil, even as the store grew crowded.

“People are keeping their cool,” said Bridgitte Stuckey, who sells clothes in the junior department.

Stuckey, a Valley native, said people no longer go over the hill to hit the fashion heights.

“I remember when this was an open-air mall,” she said. “This place has done a complete turnaround.”

As the 17-year proprietor of Roberts & Co. Fine Jewelers, next door to Bloomingdale’s, Frank Valentine has also seen the mall endure the coming and going of tenants, not to mention earthquake hassles. He said that, while Fashion Square has been able to aim for a more upscale clientele in recent years, Valley consumers have also grown increasingly discerning. Bloomingdale’s, despite its heritage and well-attended first day, will over the long haul have to earn its customers.

“People shop differently nowadays,” Valentine said. “They’re smart. They go from place to place, comparing. It’s not as much about the name.”