There were 2,100 people at the benefit grand opening of Nordstrom Cherry Creek on Wednesday night, and from the excitement it generated, you’d have thought the Rockies had won the World Series or that peace had been achieved in the Middle East. In that order.
When the dust settles, the deluxe affair chaired by Holly Kylberg will have raised $250,000 for the American Transplant Foundation and Beacon Center’s work with abused and neglected teens.
Attorney Steve Farber, who started ATF following his kidney transplant, and Annabel Bowlen, founder and past president of Beacon Center’s Cherish the Children Guild, were the honorary chairs.
Beacon’s share of the money, Bowlen said, “will open so many doors and help so many children who have experienced extreme trauma.”
Guests, including Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien and Secretary of State Mike Coffman, were free to explore the sparkling new store
while sampling hors d’oeuvres and lavish buffets from Bistro Boys Catering. There also was a runway fashion show, live music and, of course, shopping.
One of the first sales was a Ralph Lauren belt that Colorado UpLift Guild president Joyce Wilson spotted in the accessories department. Pegie Frazier bought a pair of shoes and some boots, and lasik surgeon Lawrence Spivak, when asked if he was a Nordstrom shopper, replied: “I am tonight.”
Former Junior League president Nancy Schotters used the camera on her cellphone to snap and send pictures to her daughter, Kedzie, a student at Washington University in St. Louis. Kedzie had enjoyed her summer job at Nordstrom Park Meadows so much that she tried to talk her parents into flying her home for the Cherry Creek festivities.
Stories of Nordstrom’s superior customer service abounded.
Former Colorado first lady Frances Owens recalled receiving a “very expensive” handbag from her husband, Bill, that ultimately had to be exchanged. The then-governor’s assistant had picked it out at Nordstrom Park Meadows and charged it to her account, and when Frances returned the purse, the exchange was made “willingly, even though someone else had bought it and I didn’t have the receipt. That alone made me a loyal Nordstrom shopper.”
Allied Jewish Federation staffer Alby Segall traces his loyalty to the Nordstrom store in Utah. One night he happened to glance at his watch while shopping. It was 10 p.m., so he asked the salesman: “What time do you guys close? The fellow who was helping me said the store closes when the last customer has been served.”
Store manager Yolanda Larson also welcomed such new friends as Trygve and Vicki Myhren; Bruce and Marcy Benson; Cherry Creek North Shopping District director Julie Bender; Fox-31 morning anchor Heidi Hemmat and hubby Jason Stone; Norm and Sunny Brownstein; Diane Huttner and her houseguest, Linnea Allison, whose home in Fisher Island, Fla., is next door to the vacation getaway of fellow gala-goers John and Nancy Sevo; Kay Malo; Ed and Judy Johnson; Ellen Robinson; Sally, John, Martha, Ken and Rebecca Gart; and Marilyn Beal, whose husband, Dick, opened the former Joseph Magnin store in Denver.
Denver Post columnist Bill Husted contributed to this report. Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314. Bill Husted: 303-954-1486.
