Border's bookstore to close 16 stores in chicago and it's suburbs (Highland Park: low income, apartments)

[urza216]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

My fiancee and I went to the Borders on Kedzie (Jersey) and Lincoln today. Parking was an absolute bear, and it was a madhouse inside. Strangely, most of the kids stuff looked ransacked. I wonder why that was first to go.

Everything else looked fairly stocked still. I was going to pick up some CDs, but they were still super expensive, even after 20% off. Maybe they'll go down in price as the weeks go by?

Anyways, my fiancee found some good 40% off books. Maybe we'll see whats left in the coming weeks.

You're one of those emotionless shoppers excited about the discount and not even caring the place is going out of business. You can't even get a drink in the cafe anymore and books weren't put away and were scattered everywhere. It was a terrible sight and it pissed me off that people had no respect.

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by Suburban Mess

What the hell made you think that?!?! I saw on HLN (Channel 56) where the mayors of Olympia Fields and Matteson had to fight tooth and nail just to bring them to Matteson. Borders didn't even want to come to the south suburbs so the mayors accused them of being racist since Matteson is mostly black in order to bring them in. I am sure they (Borders) are happy as can be by closing the Matteson location. My only concern is what will fill in the gap? You already loss Linens and Things. At least the LnT's in NW Indiana was replaced with a Bed Bath & Beyond. Even River Oaks has one. I honestly feel that Matteson will no longer be the major retail area it once was in the 70-80's. All the stores have since moved over to Orland Park, Homewood or just closed all together. Lincoln Mall might as well close and be torn down. It's a shame because of all the shopping areas in the south suburbs, Matteson always looked better IMO.

Oh come on now. Let's not turn border's bookstore filing chapter 11 into another opportunity to bash the far southern suburbs. Matteson's borders store closing is no different than the Norridge, Evanston, Mount Prospect, Deerfield, Bolingbrook, St. Charles, Crystal Lake, McHenry, DeKalb, and the Merrillville borders store also closing. I personally do not feel that this is a case of redlining at all. They are in chapter 11 and are closing most of there stores, it's as simple as that. The borders store is a very nice retail location and some other retailer will surely fill in there eventually. Overall, matteson has done a really good job attracting and retaining new retail to the area in recent years. Ending two decades of major racial redlining in the area by corporate retailers. Sometimes you take 4 steps forward and then slip one step back.

Matteson's population has grown by an astonishing 47 percent since year 2000. Matteson just by the sheer percent of growth of middle class residents is a desirable location for future retail growth. There is something that is being built accross the street from borders in the applebees parking lot as we speak. Not sure if it has been announced who the tenants are going to be.

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by Suburban Mess

It seems as if stores in Matteson went down a notch. You had T.J.Maxx, guess what? It ran to Homewood. What came in it's place? A.J.Wright. You also had a JoeAnn Fabrics. Where did go? To Homewood. What came in it's place? Where's Pier1 Imports? What opened in the old Value City and Cubs Food stores? Exactly.

Value city was another national retailer that went bankrupt. There are no more cub foods grocery stores in illinois. The company closed most of it's stores and sold the rest to shop and save. You are talking about ancient history. There was major racial redlining in matteson and most of the retailers had moved out. The past 5-10 years, matteson has done nothing but improve. Matteson's population has grown 47 percent since year 2000. Matteson looks better than ever for the most part and has done a good job of retaining retail.

[Cambridge31]

Originally Posted by Suburban Mess

What the hell made you think that?!?! I saw on HLN (Channel 56) where the mayors of Olympia Fields and Matteson had to fight tooth and nail just to bring them to Matteson. Borders didn't even want to come to the south suburbs so the mayors accused them of being racist since Matteson is mostly black in order to bring them in. I am sure they (Borders) are happy as can be by closing the Matteson location. My only concern is what will fill in the gap? You already loss Linens and Things. At least the LnT's in NW Indiana was replaced with a Bed Bath & Beyond. Even River Oaks has one. I honestly feel that Matteson will no longer be the major retail area it once was in the 70-80's. All the stores have since moved over to Orland Park, Homewood or just closed all together. Lincoln Mall might as well close and be torn down. It's a shame because of all the shopping areas in the south suburbs, Matteson always looked better IMO.

Wonder if they wanted to go into Uptown at all as well and if its happy to be out of there...

[urza216]

Originally Posted by allen2323

Matteson's borders store closing is no different than the Norridge, Evanston, Mount Prospect, Deerfield, Bolingbrook, St. Charles, Crystal Lake, McHenry, DeKalb, and the Merrillville borders store also closing.

Don't forget about the Borders in Hyde Park. It's closing too.

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by Suburban Mess

That's not the point I was trying to establish. The point is, what replaced those stores when the closed? Also, I'm not saying Matteson is a bad town to live in, I'm just stating that the retail in the town is not as great as it once was. There are lots of places that are nice but the retail in the town is crap. Infact, I heard a group of teens (playfully) making fun of another kid because he still shops at Lincoln Mall and doesn't go to Orland, or Southlake. Now does that show you what I am talking about?

I am not saying there isn't some lack of retail still remaining in matteson from experiencing over a decade of racial redlining. As you mentioned lincoln mall is a good example. Part of lincoln mall has been torn down, and redeveloped as stand alone stores. JCPenney seems to be doing very well as a stand alone store. Lincoln mall does not have everything that river oaks has. But, I shop at lincoln mall and am not at all embarrassed to say it. Sure I like to shop more higher end stores downtown at water tower place ocassionally. But, the Carson's in lincoln mall has very nice clothes and beats driving 25 minutes to river oaks all of the time. My fiancee always is at the new JCPenney. By the way Azizi Books in lincoln mall I believe will be the only bookstore in matteson after borders closes.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by allen2323

I am not saying there isn't some lack of retail still remaining in matteson from over a decade of racial redlining. As you mentioned lincoln mall is a good example. Part of lincoln mall has been torn down, and redeveloped as stand alone stores. JCPenney seems to be doing very well as a stand alone store.

Sears in Lincoln Mall does well too. The entire mall is packed around Christmas time. There are several expensive jewelry stores in Lincoln Mall for some reason.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by urza216

You're one of those emotionless shoppers excited about the discount and not even caring the place is going out of business. You can't even get a drink in the cafe anymore and books weren't put away and were scattered everywhere. It was a terrible sight and it pissed me off that people had no respect.

Go ahead and shake an angry fist and cry into your beer. Life is hard, and it sucks.

It's not my job to care about corporate entities. They took a gamble and they lost. It's the same thing with the business with whom I am employed. If they make bad decisions that come back to haunt them, they could close down and I'd lose my job. That's the way of the world. The fact is :

A) I don't buy books; I use Chicago Public Library. 90% of the time, I see purchase of a book as a waste of money. Same thing with DVDs.

B) creating clutter purposefully is disprectful, but having damn near one thousand people probably come through those doors over the weekend will probably lead to a ransacked look. It was probably best described as organized chaos.

FWIW, my fiancee and I patronize the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square. Borders is like a classic case of a corporation who opened too many stores during the boom years. See: Starbucks.

People forget that business is about turning profits. Maybe it starts off differently, but it is ultimately about the almighty dollar. Why would a business operate in an area where it costs more to keep the lights on than it even sells?

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by Suburban Mess

True, but guess what? The redevelopment was supposed to be a lot better than it turned out to be. A row of big box stores were planned to connect the Target and JCP. While parts of the mall were demolished, the remainder was planned to be upgraded and a new department store was suppose to open at the end of the new hallway. As you can see, none of that happend. However, if this same plan were for Orland or Southlake Malls, you'd be up to your knees with paper work from stores wanting to move in.

Again, not saying orland and southlake do not have more stores. They are also not located right next door to lincoln mall. It isn't a choice of one mall over the other. They are all located considerable distances from one another. I have never even been to southlake mall. And have shopped at orland maybe 5 times my entire life. I normally shop at lincoln mall, river oaks, downtown, and occasionally evergreen plaza.

The lincoln mall redevelopement looks good from what has actually been completed. There was construction equipment out there a couple of months ago doing something. Ground has been raised in several areas around the mall perimeter. I think it is safe to say the redevelopement at lincoln mall has not yet been completed.

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by Suburban Mess

Yes but how will the area look once the outlet mall in CCH is open?

The country club hills outlet mall will be another great shopping option added to the area. I would love to see the outlet mall happen. But I don't think they have even broken ground on the outlet mall yet. Country club hills and matteson are both fairly close to my home in olympia fields. In matteson, the population has grown by 42 percent since 2000 and it only makes since that retailers want to be located there. I think with every new retailer the apprehension becomes less and less anyway.