The Army moves in

Darleene Barrientos

The darkened store windows at the northwest corner of Brand Boulevard

and Wilson Avenue will soon be brightened with the sight of

appliances, clothing and luggage.

The Salvation Army is in the process of moving into Zany Brainy’s

former location in the heart of downtown Glendale, across the street

from its old location of more than a decade ago.

Moving in has meant removing the Zany Brainy letters high on the

building’s facade and replacing register counters with racks for

clothing and luggage, said Mike Scarff, director of retail for The

Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation program in Pasadena.

“This store will be different from most,” said Scarff, gesturing

to an area bordered with empty display cases and wire cubes. “This

area will have antiques and ‘better than’ items inside. We’re going

to have jewelry.”

The 11,000-square-foot space already has areas designated for

clothes, luggage, furniture and books, Scarff said. The book area

will even have couches and chairs for people to sit in as they read,

he said.

“There won’t be any coffee, though,” he joked.

A lot of work has been done on the retail space, Capt. Brett

Strickland said Friday as he helped with construction.

“We’ve had to put together the clothing racks and the shelves by

hand,” Strickland said. “We’ll be bringing in merchandise by the

middle of [this] week.”

In addition to preparing the store for business, Salvation Army

workers have been busy getting ready for the location’s grand opening

June 5. The Glendale Chamber of Commerce and city dignitaries have

been invited and the store plans to hold a “10 for 1” event in which

10 items -- which might include a television, washer, or dryer --

will be on sale for $1.

“People will just need to come in and find it,” Scarff said.