It used to be that students had a hard time finding part-time work in Cabell County. That is changing this fall as more than 500 new jobs typically filled by students are coming Barboursville.
From Target to Dress Barn, Best Buy to Ruby Tuesdays, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Marshalls to Block and Barrell, some are open, some are coming soon, and they're bringing employment opportunities with them.
At the Huntington Mall, Best Buy opened its doors August 23rd. The store was packed with new customers and new employees. Managers had been working out of the Hampton Inn hiring 130 employees to start, offering jobs with good pay, stock programs, and benefits.
"It's a gorgeous store," said Grand Opening customer Sean Brenahan, of Ona."And it's great to see so many college kids working."
Marshalls opened Thursday at the new Merrritts Creek Shopping Center. The Massachusets based company will need more than 50 employees to run its new store. Right next door will be a new Dress Barn, expecting to bring about a dozen jobs.
"I love Marshalls, and I hated driving to Southridge," said Dara Huffman, of Huntington. "This store is gorgeous, and it's in my own backyard!"
Across the parking lot is the new Target. It opens October 13th, and is hiring more than 160 people. It held a job fair last weekend, and offered positions to dozens of Cabell County residents looking for both full and part-time work.
Manager Prudence Short said the chain has been hiring for a while, and will offer and extend jobs later as retail firms have a good level of employee turnover.
West Hamlin resident Ronald Dailey said he's looking forward to working at Target as did Barbara Shuck, of Huntington, who was looking for a way to raise Christmas money on the weekends.
"Target is a good company to work for," said Shuck. "I have cousins in Minnesota where Target is based, who put themselves through college on the weekends working at Target."
Both Marshalls and Target will help replace jobs lost to the region when two Ames stores closed down in recent years.
Barboursville officials were hoping that a new Home Depot. would be opening soon, but right now the site is an empty lot. City leaders said the delay in building stems to some "site concerns," but they said Home Depot still remains committed to the location.
If you work in the restaurant industry, a new Ruby Tuesday's restaurant is under construction at the Huntington Mall. It is projecting to fire up its grille November 5th, bringing in 80 to 100 full and part time jobs. And Block and Barrel is opening next to the mall arcade, a deli with burgers, hot dogs and a half-dozen official West Virginia video lottery machines.
This is good news to Lucy Williams, a college student who lives in Milton has had trouble finding waitressing jobs in Downtown Huntington.
"All the Marshall kids have them locked up," said Williams. "They pay real well and no one wants to leave. The Mall is a shorter commute, so I'll be looking into Ruby's."
Also coming to the Huntington Mall is Dick's Sporting Goods. It opens August 25th in the old Phar-Mor location. Dick's is hiring 100 employees.
At least one student who already has a job sees an advantage to all the new ones in the area.
"It used to be the employers took advantage of us," said Shane Simms, of Milton. "They used to say that 'If we didn't like their minimum wage, where are you going to go? Wal-Mart?' All these new jobs put us in the drivers seat."