Burlington Coat Factory coming to Elgin
Elgin once was considered a hub for suburban shopping. But then regional malls started opening up, and Elgin's downtown pedestrian shopping experience disappeared.
The last time a department store opened in town was 1992.
Like fashion, a recent retail deal for the city suggests what's old is new again.
Burlington Coat Factory will open next spring in the Otter Creek Shopping Center on Randall Road, occupying most of the space that Dominick's vacated when it left the center 4 years ago.
"We've found by research that we've done that there's a substantial loss of buying power that has to leave Elgin because the resident don't have the option to buy certain goods - clothes, shoes, bedding, other things like that," said Ray Moller, Elgin's economic development director.
"This is a first step in trying to give Elgin residents the option to stay in the community, to make those types of purchases."
New Jersey-based Burlington Coat Factory, which has stores in Bloomingdale, Naperville, Arlington Heights and Villa Park, will lease 70,000 of the 88,000 square feet that Dominick's left behind. It offers coats, suits, dresses and home decor items at discounted prices.
Otter Creek, built in 1992, is just south of Route 20 on Randall Road. The first tenant of that space was an Omni grocery store. It closed, and Dominick's took its place. In March 2004 Dominick's left to build in South Elgin. That store has since closed.
Stelios Aktipis purchased the Otter Creek shopping last year for $2.8 million, working since to improve it and draw tenants.
Moller said Aktipis was "very aggressive" in recruiting Burlington to the site.
"In today's economy this is a very positive thing to have happen," he said.