Country star draws crowds for bargain store grand opening

JACKSON, Tenn. — A country music star made a stop in Jackson on Wednesday. Some people waited in line all night for a chance to meet him at the grand opening of a new bargain store.

Country music fans packed Ollie’s Bargain Outlet hoping to get a glimpse of country music star Jake Owen. “That was our goal, to be the first one in line, and it worked,” Polly Speed, a fan, said.

Speed drove from Mississippi to meet Owen. She got in line around 11 p.m Tuesday. “I brought a cot and some chairs that reclined,” she said.

The first 250 people in line got to meet Owen, snap photos and get an autograph. “I got the message in homeroom that I was going to see Jake and I screamed,” Karissa Wilson said.

Owen said he is flattered by the fans. “I worked a long time to just get to the point where people would even know my name, and now to think that they’re smiling and taking pictures — it’s really flattering,” he said.

Owen said this is not his first time in the Hub City. “I was pretty excited last night to be able to say I’m going to Jackson,” he said.

The store sells everything from books to food and home goods. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet said this is their 12th location in Tennessee.

The company said they also hired 60 employees to help open the new store in Jackson. “It’s going to revitalize this area of town, hopefully gives them a new shopping destination,” district team leader Bradley Toon said.

“I just love him, and he’s just as cute as a button,” Speed said. “But I wish he’d grow his hair back.”

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is a closeout store. The company said it has more than 200 stores in the United States.