Its growth fueled by the trend toward shopping at home, Alabama-based Mills Outlet Group will open as soon as September an in-person outlet mall in the space formerly known as Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
The 2,000,000-square-foot outlet mall will occupy the former Wrigley Field Stadium after the 2021 destruction of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Next to Dollar Tree, it will be the only brick-and-mortar retail space in the country for former Cubs jerseys that say Rizzo, Bryant and Baez.
Offering such items as jewelry, clothing, electronics, home goods, small kitchen appliances and games, the Wrigleyville Mills Fashion Outlet outlet is expected to benefit from the Lakeview community.
Although retailers such as Kmart and Toys R Us have fallen victim to the shop-at-home trend, the Mills Outlet Group believes there is room in the local retail environment for an outlet mall, and the one at the former Wrigley Field stadium will soon open.
“The trend nationally is away from brick-and-mortar stores,” The Mills Outlet Group mentioned Big Lots and TJ Maxx as examples of retailers that have continued to be successful in a marketplace now dominated by Amazon and other online retailers. said, “but there are still stores that are thriving.”
The Mills Outlet Group mentioned Big Lots and TJ Maxx as examples of retailers that have continued to be successful in a marketplace now dominated by Amazon and other online retailers.
“We’re opening an outlet mall that will be more like the experience you would find at a traditional mall,” the Mills Outlet Group said. “It will be really cool like a Sears or Montgomery Ward Mall from the 1980’s.”
The Mills Outlet Group expects the store will appeal to bargain hunters.
“We’ll be able to offer some deals that you might not be able to find online,” they said.
The the Mills Outlet Group said the mall’s location is another asset.
“We feel like it will benefit from its proximity to the Kennedy Expressway’s Olive Garden” he said. “There are multiple entry points into the shopping center, and it has a large parking lot where the Cubs players used to park.”
Work on getting the space ready has already started, and the Mills Outlet Group said a Fall opening is likely because not a lot of renovation is needed.
“The good thing is, it was already set up as a open space,” they said. “Not a lot needed to be done to it.”
The outlet mall will have 8,000 employees, said the Mills Outlet Group, who are looking during a tight labor market to fill those positions.
“It’s harder than it has been in the past, but we’re still able to find people.”
The new outlet mall is seen by local officials as a welcome addition.
“Wrigleyville has been a strategic location” Wrigleyville Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Tunney said in a news release. We appreciate the effort in selecting our community for the new mall that will benefit our residents.”
