At Home store's Grand Opening
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| New At Home store in the Los Altos Gateway Center occupies former KMart speace. |
The Grand Opening for the new Long Beach At Home store was on Saturday, June 18, 2022. The Texas-based home decor company renovated the former KMart next to the Lowe's in the Los Altos Gateway Shopping Center. The new store opened with a soft opening on June 1, 2022.
At
Home is a superstore for both indoor and outdoor home decor. The store features a selection of both name brands
and At
Home private label brands. Inside the store, isles include both
warehouse-like isles for big-bulk items like furniture and regular shopping
isles for items like kitchen accessories. As an example of the huge
selection, the mirror "department" includes 6 isles of various types
of mirrors.
The Long Beach store joins other seven California stores. The four Southern California At Home stores are in Lake Forest, Riverside, Temecula, and San Diego. In May 2021 At Home was sold to the powerhouse investment firm of Hellman & Friedman in an all-cash deal of $2.8 billion.
Operating over 200 stores in 40 states, At Home has a target of growth of 600 stores nationwide. The stores are known for their huge inventory of over 50,000 home and garden-related items at reasonable pricing. The inventory features 75% of unbranded merchandise developed specifically for At Home.
The E Long Beach Kmart site was a focal point in the original Land Use Element fight. Long Beach Development Services argued that with the inevitable demise of Kmart and big-box retail, the site should be slated for mixed-use residential and business. After strong local opposition led by eastside neighborhood association members of the Council of Neighborhood Organizations (CONO), the site remained zoned for retail only.