More than 50 eager customers lined up outside the new Goody’s department store on Lindberg Avenue Thursday morning more than half an hour prior to its Grand Opening.

Most were on hand to cash in on the heavily discounted items on sale helping them save some “green” on St. Patrick’s Day, while others were there to welcome the new store to the community during a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Atmore Store Manager Bill Yates said response to the new store has been extremely upbeat.

“The day went very good,” he said. “We had a great turnout and a lot of positive feedback. We had several Grand Opening specials; lots of items were 50 percent off storewide. We also had shopping passes that were good for 15 percent off your entire purchase, and we had representatives from Estee Lauder assisting with makeovers.”

Customers were also on hand to take advantage of the store’s free gift offer – a Goody’s canvas tote bag. Yates said the bags did not last long as customers filed in quickly to get their hands on one.

“We gave away 175 in the first 10 minutes,” Yates said.

The Atmore Peebles store, along with all other stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and even a few in Mississippi are changing their nameplates from Peebles to Goody’s, officials said. Stage Stores representative Stan Witherow, who works in the north Alabama region, believes the name change is part of Stage’s efforts for better “name recognition.”

“We’ve already done this in a few markets and it’s been a huge success,” he said.

Bob Aronson, vice president of investor relations for Stage Stores, said the new Goody’s store offers the same quality and value seen at Peebles.

“The name change is something we made a decision on based on the recognition of the name throughout the Southeast,” Aronson said. “The merchandise offered at Goody’s will be equal in quality and value as seen at Peebles.”

The Atmore store still carries the Clinique and Estee Lauder name brands, which sets it apart from the Brewton location, which also held its Grand Opening Thursday morning.

Stage Stores purchased the rights to the Goody’s name in 2009 as part of the Goody’s bankruptcy auction. The company began using the Goody’s name in select markets where the name was already a recognized entity.

Other names currently being used as part of the Stage Stores company include Stage, Peebles, Beall’s and Palais Royal. The company owns more than 780 locations in 39 states with approximately 13,000 employees. The company also anticipates opening 35-40 new stores in the coming year. The company has corporate offices in Houston, Texas and South Hill, Va.

If Thursday’s crowd is any indication of what’s to come for the employees at Goody’s, they may have a hard time keeping the shelves stocked.