Elgin Mall Corp. is moving ahead with plans to move into a vacant East Dundee store but about a third of its vendors have split off from the group and plan to open in the former Carson’s anchor store at Spring Hill Mall.
Elgin Mall Corp. officials had trepidations about moving to East Dundee after facing opposition from the mayor and receiving negative and racist feedback from some residents but ultimately opted to proceed with plans to relocate from Elgin to a vacant grocery store at 535 Dundee Ave., President Rosa Leal said.
Elgin Mall officials did consider Spring Hill Mall as a possible location after mall management contacted them about the availability of the Carson’s store, Leal said.
While initially appealing, the plan was scuttled after they learned the elevator was not working and would cost anywhere from $30,000 to $200,000, she said.
At the same time, East Dundee trustees reached out to them to show their support and to encourage them to proceed with the East Dundee plan, Leal said. “They were really nice and very welcoming,” she said.
However, not everyone in their group agreed that moving to Spring Hill Mall was a bad business choice. When the idea was presented to the 80-plus vendors as a whole, a portion of them preferred that location to the East Dundee storefront, Leal said.
A new group made up of the business owners who want to move to Spring Hill has been formed, she said. Leal did not know they were planning to lock into the location until Facebook and TikTok posts went up announcing that “Villa Mall” was coming soon.
Leal said she does not know who is in charge of the group or what their plans are. “We hear rumors here and there,” but nothing specific, she said.
About four dozen vendors remain with the Elgin Mall Corp., and the backing of the East Dundee trustees was “definitely a big factor in our decision,” Leal said.
Interior rehab work to renovate the former Dominick’s grocery store should start this month, she said, and they’ve received an extenstion from the owners of the current building in Elgin that will allow them to remain there until January 2024. Their goal is to open in East Dundee one month later.
“We’re hoping to have 50 vendors, but we will also be working diligently on bringing new businesses (as well),” Leal said.
Leal is concerned customers could be confused with two groups now planning to open in different locations, she said. Elgin Mall Corp. plans to put up banners and pass out information so they can get the word out about their new East Dundee location, she said.
Spring Hill Mall is located in both West Dundee and Carpentersville, with the Carson’s store being on the Carpentersville side.
This week, the West Dundee Village Board agreed to buy the former Macy’s anchor store on the West Dundee side for $1.25 million in effort to have a role in helping reshape the struggling mall property for future development.
Carpentersville Village Manager John O’Sullivan said he was aware Elgin Mall officials had been looking at but ultimately rejected the Carson’s store and that an offshoot group was considering the space, but the village has not received any official notification a lease has been signed.
“We had heard that a small subgroup was considering Spring Hill Mall, but nobody has approached us for a business license, which is a sure way we would know,” O’Sullivan said. “All it is, to us, is a rumor (as of right now).”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
