Mark your calendar for holiday events at Geneva Commons
You might think it's too early to think about Christmas, but businesses up and down the Randall Road corridor are wasting no time preparing for the holidays.
In fact, the folks at Geneva Commons this week released their plans for the holidays, giving people time to prepare and mark the dates on their calendars.
And don't think these plans begin after Thanksgiving.
Starting on the Friday before Thanksgiving, the mall will begin its annual holiday gift offer.
The mall along the Randall Road corridor is offering shoppers a choice of two free gifts if they spend a total of $100 or more at Geneva Commons during the holidays.
Shopper, or diners at any of the Geneva Commons restaurants, can bring their receipts dated Nov. 20 or after to either Forever 21, for a Bath and Body Works gift set, or to Wet Nose for a doggy plush toy and treat.
The mall then will be closed on Thanksgiving, with more holiday festivities set to begin on Friday, Nov. 27.
In addition to the traditional Black Friday shopping, which we'll detail in an upcoming column, Geneva Commons will host its Light Up the Night tree-lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. that Friday.
The festivities, which will take place at the Bell Tower at the mall, also will include free-horse-drawn carriage rides and the arrival of Santa at 5:30 p.m.
All events are free and open to the public.
Santa will be back to greet children every Sunday through Dec. 20. He will stroll throughout Geneva Commons, as well as greet kids at his Santa station for photos.
You can catch him strolling through the mall, and handing out treats to kids between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.
He will be back in his Santa station from 2 to 5 p.m. The station is near the Learning Express toy store.
The free carriage rides will continue Sundays through Dec. 13.
On Black Friday, they will be available from 3 to 6 p.m., carrying between eight to 10 passengers on each trip around the perimeter of the 437,000-square-foot Randall Road mall.
On Sundays, Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 14, they will be available from 1 to 4 p.m.
Giving back:
It's not too soon to start thinking about giving back to others, either, this holiday season.
Along the Randall Road corridor in Algonquin, Toys for Tots already has a collection box out at the Algonquin Common mall.
The box went up on Nov. 1, and donations already are coming in.
You will find the box in the mall's office, between Tilly's and Aeropostale.
You can drop new toys and gifts into the box any time between now and Dec. 18.
If you're willing, you can even drop off gifts more than once. When the boxes are filled, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, which organizes the program, will come empty them, to make room for more donations.
• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from South Elgin to Batavia. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or at (847) 894-5036.