SOME STORES TO OPEN EARLY IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS' NEW MALL

MARION, Ill. -- Sears and PharMor Discount will get an early start at the multimillion dollar Illinois Centre, which is scheduled for an Oct. 2 official opening.

Sears, which is moving to the new 830,000-square-foot mall off Interstate 57 and Route 13 will open its doors Saturday. Five days later, on Aug. 1, PharMor will open.

Sears, which is resituating from University Mall at Carbondale, will occupy 91,000 square feet in the new location and PharMor, which is making its first appearance in a Southern Illinois area, will have 67,000 square feet.

"Illinois Centre, which will have five anchor stores and more than 100 specialty stores, will officially open Oct. 2," said Sam Rossi, general manager of the center. "Actually, we'll have a big gala opening on Oct. 1, to give the public a look at what to expect on opening day."

The anchors include Sears, PharMor, Target, and Dillard's, with the fifth anchor to be named.

The center will also have more than 100 specialty stores offering apparel, home furnishings and accessories, including Belden Jewelers, Camelot Music, Deb Shops, Electronic Boutique, Everything's A Dollar, Footlocker, Hallmark Cards and Gifts, Lane Bryant, Lerner New York, Radio Shack and others.

Included in the mall's plans is the "Treats" area, a garden food court with 10 restaurants.

The center, which is being developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., headquartered at Youngstown, Ohio, and Antonia Investments, Ltd., St. Louis, will be the largest regional shopping center in Southern Illinois.

Construction on the new facility started in November 1989.

When completed, the mall will employ up to 2,000 permanent employees.

More than 2,500 people are expected to attend the October grand opening, which is designed to benefit nine Area United Way chapters.