Customers were surprised to learn Saturday Best Buy at the will be closing and Deerfield to keep the new tenant producing sales tax dollars.
The store will close in August, according to a company spokesperson.
“Deerbrook is a PUD (Planned Unit Development) so they’ll have to get a special use permit,” Rosenthal said, referring to the fact the mall owners must ask the village board for permission to put anything in the space other than another store.
Though Rosenthal and the board of trustees knew Best Buy wanted smaller space and had advance warning of the closing before it was announced to the public by the Minnesota-based company Saturday, she was still unhappy.
“It’s very sad,” Rosenthal said. “They will be missed in this area. I knew they wanted to downsize.” she added. The company needed less space when it stopped selling appliances in Deerfield. “Deerbrook has been working on a renovation to the shopping center.”
Retention of sales tax revenue has been a focus for Rosenthal. At the April 2 meeting of the board of trustees, she asked Deerfield Village Manager Kent Street to look at ways to avoid the loss of revenue that occurred because the former Borders and George’s What’s Cooking sites will become medical offices.
“We knew this when we did our budget for sales tax revenue and took this into account,” Rosenthal said of the most recent closing. The mayor’s concern over income derived from shoppers was borne out by people shopping at Best Buy Saturday.
Jim Statza of Lake Bluff, who was leaving the store with a new electronic device, had no idea the store was closing when he talked to Patch.
“I did not know,” Statza said. “I’ll be spending less time in Deerfield and Highland Park. I come here for Best Buy."
Pat Herendeen of Highland Park was equally surprised and disappointed with the condition the Best Buy departure will leave for the mall. “It’s unfortunate,” he said. “I had no idea. This is going to be a bit of a ghost town.”
David Lipman and Riva Lipman of Highland Park feel a loss for the community. “It’s a shame for Highland Park and Deerfield,” they said. “It’s been here a long time. Things are coming undone at the Deerbrook Mall.”
a) Are Deerbrook Mall and Calico Corners (or whatever it's called) run by the same developer ... MidAmerica? I don't know much about that industry, but those are signs that I see in both developments. It would explain a lot. b) There have been a slew of very reasonable ideas out here for weeks. The mayor and the trustees better be paying attention. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is going to be a HUUUUUUGE election issue for me. I get the feeling I'm not the only one. c) Mariano's is all geared up to build on Lawrence and Ravenswood in the city. Do you think they would pass on that location for a second? H*ll, just sign a contract with Mariano's and tell Jewel. Jewel will probably bail out.
"The Deerbrook Mall, a 130-acre Deerfield shopping center on the southwest corner of Lake Cook and Waukegan Roads, is about to get a makeover after another tenant announced it is closing up shop. “Deerbrook is working toward redevelopment in that mall,” Deerfield Mayor Harriet Rosenthal said. “It isn’t being made public yet, but they are working on it with village staff. I have met with them and I hope they will have an announcement soon." My general thought ... don't screw this up, Deerfield. This is a marathon - not a sprint. Don't simply fill in the walls. Start thinking about this in a little more of new millenium flavor. * Are you adding energy to the community? * What kind of green space will the "redevelopment" have? * How is it different from other developments? * How are you creating foot traffic at night and during the day? * Will it be an island or will it connect with the rest of the community?
I wish for the following establishments to be created: 1. I'm so tired of going to Buffallo Grove, Vernon Hills or Glenview for kids' birthday parties because we don't have a Jump-y, Trampoline-y, LaserTag-y, Pottery Painting-y, MakeAMess-y kinda place in our town! We have great huge spaces that could make for amazing birthday parties for kids of all ages! 2. More breakfast joints, PLEASE!!!
You precisely hit the reason for the closing. BB is closing hundreds of stores natiowide. Key oficers have left or been "reorganized" out. Google the absolute most basic stock and company info and you'll see how they are getting beaten up all over the naiton. It's not Deerfield, Lake Cook Rd or anything other than BB. Another case of - just because "A" during situation "B", it doesn't mean it caused it. Freshman Logic 101.
Drove down Waukegan this morning and saw the guys holding the big "30% OFF" signs outside Office Depot. Yes, Office Depot has begun it's going out of business sale. Ohhhhhhhhh, Harrrrrrrrriet!?!?!??!
The Village needs to work to save retail, find new retail, and cut Village expenses. A start: roll the Park District into the Village and cut some overhead. They are out of control. Woodland Park expansion? In this economy? Not necessary. Just waiting for the property tax increase..... That ugly Deerbrook 'mall' is gonna sit empty for years unless this Village gets moving....
Again though, a major, major, major problem with shopping over there is TRAFFIC. It's just nuts. A bit of thought, just a little planning would make things flow easier. First freebie: Vehicles westbound on Lake Cook Road which decide to turn south (left) into the Jewel parking lot. They backup out of the small turn lane, and sit there forever waiting to cross the eastbound traffic on Lake Cook Road. This causes all manner of problems. My solution: Remove the ability to turn into the Jewel driveway from westbound Lake Cook Road. Make that driveway an EXIT only, heading eastbound. Want to go to Jewel when heading westbound? Fine, wait in the nice long left turn lane at Lake Cook and Waukegan, head south on Waukegan, and turn into the driveway just south of Waukegan. Similarly, cars turning north out of the first driveway just south of Waukegan cause all kinds of problems too. Simply driving to the middle driveway with the stoplight is so much easier and safer. Just a bit of thought would clean up the intersections around there. Not perfect, but would vastly improve them. And it might make things more attractive rather than repulsive to potential shoppers.
The outlot with the tire store and gas station is also a very limiting factor in getting anything going at Cadwell. Same is true with Deerbrook, they have built the out buildings over recent years and ignored the core 'mall' other than exterior facelifts. Relaxing the intersection bottlenecks could help both centers. I too saw the closing signs for Office Depot. So the list goes on...blockbuster (2 stores), old country buffet, barber shop, deli, best buy, 2 chicken restaurants, baker furniture, bakers square, Honquest furniture, Stoney river, cabinet design center, borders, etc. I've lost count. Hello? Village board? Are we building unnecessary parks and underpasses or recruiting retail business? It's time for change and action. Nice people, but new attitude is needed.