Von Maur's Grand Opening Starts This Morning At North Point Mall

Von Maur holds its opening today at . It is the new anchor store located between Macy's and Dillards in front of the children's play area.

This department store is new to Georgia and with it comes new brands that previously shoppers had to drive to Perimeter Mall to shop for. These include Brighton jewelry, Laura Mercier cosmetics and Not Your Daughter's Jeans. Shoppers will also be able to shop locally for Free People, Marc by Marc Jacobs, True Religion and 7 Diamonds. The store carries many other brand name and high-end clothing, accessories and children's apparel items as well.

Von Maur is a family-owned business and has been for more than 130 years. They have 25 stores across the United States and this is the first one in Georgia. They offer interest-free credit cards, free shipping regardless of the amount you spend and free gift wrap year-round. They also have a website for shoppers to order online.

The company hired between 185 and 190 people to work at the store. Those include permanent staff, and a few seasonal gift wrappers and sales people. Meg Reggie, a spokesperson for the store, said extra staff was hired for the holiday season.

"Alpharetta is a highly populated area with strong demongraphics," she said.

Today's grand opening is "a high traffic time for the customers to see out store and get to know us in a condensed amount of time," Reggie said.

The store has a grand opening celebration scheduled for Saturday with activities and events all day. Shoppers can also register to win a $1000 shopping spree at the store. Here is a breakdown of the new store's plan for Saturday.

• At 9:45 a.m., there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at the main mall entrance.
• At 10 a.m., the store will open.
• At 10 a.m., there will be a Heath Slane personal appearance as well as a trunk show in the jewelry department.
• At 10 a.m., there will be a PurseN trunk show in the handbag department.
• At 10 a.m. there will be a dancing boogie monster in the children's department.
• At 11 a.m., there will be face painters and balloon artists in the children's department.
• At Noon, there will be a Jill Zarin personal appearance. She is the creator of Skweez Couture Shapewear and a former star of Housewives of New York.
• At 3 p.m., there will be a Spanx styling event in the lingerie & hosiery department.