Bowling alley, more stores coming to help fill old Sears space at Gurnee Mills

A Round1 Bowling & Amusement is coming to Gurnee Mills mall and will occupy part of the old Sears anchor store.

Beyond bowling lanes, the business will offer arcade games, billiards, karaoke, Ping-Pong, darts and other activities, according to the village.

Ellen Dean, Gurnee's economic development director, said Round1 will complement other non-shopping options at the mall, which also hosts the Marcus Cinemas movie theater, the Top Shelf Ice Arena, the escape room 60 to Escape and the Alpha Media radio stations.

"Round1 is a perfect complement to the many existing entertainment offerings at Gurnee Mills, bringing state-of-the-art games and activities that appeal to the whole family," Dean said.

It'll be the third location of the Japan-based chain in the Chicago area. Round1's Illinois locations are in Aurora, North Riverside and Peoria. A fourth location in Bloomingdale has closed.

The village board entered into an agreement in 2021 to help defray mall owner Simon Property Group's costs to renovate the former Sears store, which closed in 2018. The initial plan called for the village to pay Simon $500,000 if the developer invested at least $2.5 million to carve the 200,000-square-foot Sears into three smaller spaces.

Hobby Lobby opened in a 68,000-square-foot portion of the old Sears site last year. Village officials didn't disclose when Round1 is expected to open.