Fashion outlet mall debuts in Rosemont
With a flourish of colorful streamers seemingly falling from the skylights above and onlookers that included Gov. Pat Quinn, Fashion Outlets Chicago marked its grand opening in Rosemont Thursday. It is now the closest outlet mall to the city of Chicago.
“We hope this becomes part of the daily life of this community and that the pride we put into it shows through for Chicago and Rosemont,” said Arthur Weiner, chairman of Fashion Outlets’ developer AWE Talisman, following a morning ribbon cutting in front of crowds of eager shoppers.
Court jesters in colorful costumes entertained in the aisles with ribbons and other props while children lined up to have their faces painted or receive a piece of balloon artwork.
Though it bills itself as an outlet mall, Fashion Outlets, located at River Road and Balmoral Avenue, is actually a mixture of more than 150 outlets, factory stores and brand-name retailers, in addition to a food court and the sit-down Villagio and Prasino restaurants. Stores range from high-end names like Last Call by Neiman Marcus, Barney’s New York Outlet, Bloomingdales Outlet Store, Gucci and Coach, to the Children’s Place, Bath and Body Works and Forever 21.
More than six years in the making, Fashion Outlets also holds the distinction of being the “first two-level, fully enclosed outlet shopping center in the world,” according to Weiner.
Lines began forming outside several stores well before they opened, as shoppers hoped to be among the first to score a deal.
Quique Ballado and Brian Perille, both of Barrington, arrived at 5 a.m. with folding chairs, camping out in the attached parking garage to score a spot at the front of the line outside the Nike Factory Store.
“Nike always pulls out crazy stuff the day it opens,” Ballado explained of their eagerness to get inside.
Gov. Quinn, touted the number of jobs the project has generated (estimated at 2,000), and a feature that allows passengers headed to O’Hare to check in and pick up their boarding passes inside the mall before taking a shuttle to the airport.
The mall’s grand opening celebration continues through Sunday. Parking at the mall’s adjacent garage and tolls at I-294’s nearby Balmoral exit will be free through Aug. 4.