Westfield malls reduce hours

Suburban shoppers soon will have a little less time to spend at several local malls.

Westfield Group announced Thursday it is reducing the hours of operation at its malls across the country due to "changing consumer demand."

Locally, Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, Westfield Hawthorn in Vernon Hills and Westfield Fox Valley in Aurora will open a half-hour later, or 10:30 a.m., and close a half-hour earlier at 8:30 p.m., said Enna Allen, Westfield regional marketing director for the Midwest. The reduced hours, which start March 1, will mainly effect the specialty stores during the week. Weekend hours will remain the same.

Department stores and restaurants will maintain their own hours of operation, Allen said.

The reduction in hours comes as retailers are reducing costs in an effort to survive the worst economy in decades.

"It's an opportunity to help the retailers to conserve resources and respond to changing consumer demand and traffic patterns due to the current economic environment," Allen said.

She added that most retailers are pleased with the announcement that allows them to re-allocate resources.

Some retail experts expect other malls to follow the trend in a struggling economy. Simon Property Group has recently cut hours at many of its malls on the East Coast.