Gurnee Mills enjoys peaceful Black Friday
Gurnee Mills filled early with thousands of shoppers seeking Black Friday bargains but it was a stark contrast to last year's unruly crowd that arrived when the megamall tried a midnight opening.
Kohl's and Burlington Coat Factory opened at 3 a.m., followed by Sears Grand at 4 a.m. The rest of Gurnee Mills welcomed thousands of shoppers at 5 a.m.
Uniformed Gurnee police officers walked with mall security personnel, which also was stationed at Gurnee Mills entrances.
“There's always learning opportunities,” said Gurnee Mills General Manager Randy Ebertowski said of the melee that erupted a year ago. “But we work very closely with the village of Gurnee and our retailers on putting together a security plan, and we feel very comfortable with it.”
Last year on Black Friday, eight young men and teenagers were charged with crimes ranging from battery to criminal damage to property after Gurnee Mills' midnight opening.
Gurnee police responded to 15 fight and disturbance calls throughout the mall and parking lot from 1 to about 5:30 a.m. that morning. At one point, Lake County sheriff's deputies and regional Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm Service units were summoned to assist Gurnee authorities.
But indications were it would be a different story Friday. Instead of problems, Ebertowski reported there just were “a lot of happy shoppers.”
Gurnee police Cmdr. William Meyer said there were no arrests at the mammoth mall as of late morning.
“It's been night and day (compared to last year),” he said.
Mayor Kristina Kovarik said officials held meetings about how Black Friday would be handled at all of the village's shopping areas. She said police were prepared to be aggressive if trouble erupted again.
“We talked Wednesday night,” Kovarik said. “We talked Thursday morning. We had a game plan in place.”
Ebertowski said he's hopeful Gurnee Mills will top a U.S. holiday sales increase of 2.3 percent projected by the National Retail Federation. That would be good news for Gurnee, which derives most of its revenue from local and state sales tax.
Michelle Rice, director of mall marketing and business development for Gurnee Mills, noticed many serious shoppers as she observed the Black Friday scene near Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World soon after the early-morning opening.
“You've got people holding two, three, four or five packages within a 20-minute time frame,” Rice said.
Up to 138 million shoppers plan to hit stores from Black Friday through Sunday, according to a preliminary survey conducted for the retail federation by BIGresearch.