Oakbrook Center store closed two days after large crowd sought new watch

Social media exploded with pictures and videos Saturday as people crowded Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook to get their hands on a Swatch and Audemars Piguet Royal Pop Collection pocket watch.

But they were unable to buy watches because the store closed after police dealt with hundreds of people entering the mall before it even opened.

Oak Brook police say they were called to the mall at 2:47 a.m. Saturday. The open-air mall doesn’t open until 10 a.m.

According to police, the mall’s private security called police after people refused to obey their orders. Police estimate about 400 people were there. Police said the crowd overwhelmed barricades and went to the entrance of the Swatch store.

The store was then closed on Saturday and Sunday.

One person was issued an ordinance violation, police said.

Police Chief Brian Strockis said the department received little information ahead of time about the release of the new watch.

In a statement released Monday, Swatch said: “Challenges arose on launch day because the queues of interested customers were exceptionally long, and the organization of some shopping malls was not sufficient to handle this level of turnout.”

It said the “situation has now normalized somewhat,” especially after it announced that the Royal Pop Collection will be available for several months.

Audemars Piguet and Swatch unveiled the Royal Pop Collection in eight models, inspired by Pop Art. The pocket watches cost around $400. However, they were said to be resold online for more than $1,000.