SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The manager of sports apparel retailer Headgear is hoping the store will see an increase in sales at its new location on Franklin Avenue.

Kathy Hancock, manager of Headgear, stands next to a floor-to-ceiling wall rack of hats. Headgear made the big move from Centre Square Mall to the Legion building on Franklin Avenue this past weekend and opened its doors for customers Monday afternoon. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

Kathy Hancock said moving from a quiet corner of Centre Square Mall, where customer traffic has been shrinking over the past year, will be a big boost for the store and expose more people to the products it offers.

"The owner purchased the building and he wanted a stand-alone store," Hancock said of owner Dan Hayward's purchase of the building in November, which is also home to the Yellowknife branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.

"We've got a Franklin Avenue-facing store," she said. "Everybody drives by here, so we're hoping it'll bring up our sales, even though we've done well as is, considering the economy."

The store to shoppers on Monday afternoon.

Hancock said the move will cut costs, particularly rent and utilities.

"The mall, it is costly to be in there and we wanted something more cost-efficient, in terms of money going into rent and water and those things," she said. "It was getting pretty quiet in that corner (of Centre Square Mall). We believe we're a destination store and we're hoping people come in more and our sales go up."

Upon entering the store, it would seem the space is larger than the old location in the mall, but Hancock said it's actually smaller.

"When you walk in you don't see all those huge pillars like in the old store," she said, adding the retailer will have to be careful about how much is brought into the store for display.

Hancock said relocation went smoothly, taking all day last Sunday to have all merchandise and equipment moved. She said the new location on the main thoroughfare, offered a chance to re-brand the store to target a more diverse section of the city's population.

"I think people think our store is for young people, ages 18 to 30, but we do have (an) infant line of clothing as well," she said, adding the store also offers clothing for middle-aged shoppers.

"We're increasing our baby wear. A lot of people are looking for newborn stuff. We're bringing in Imps and Elves, it's zero to three months and we'll also be increasing our baby section."

Staff set their own hours and Hancock said they plan to try out some different options until they find hours that best suit their clients.

"We haven't set them specifically, but we're looking at being open late on a Thursday night and not Friday," she said, adding Headgear will be open seven days a week, like it was in the mall.

"It seems more people want to shop on Thursdays. We're going to play around with the hours at first and go from there."

Hancock said there are plans to have an electronic sign installed, to show off sales and planned special events, something she said will also be a new addition to the store.

"We're looking at having special events, like fashion shows and we're looking at approaching some of the high schools to see if they are interested in helping out with it," she said.

"Once we get settled and organized we want to do some things like that."