More Huntley Outlet Center Shops Set to Close Soon

If you think the Huntley Outlet Center looks desolate now, just wait until mid-March.

Many stores at the center, located at Route 47 and Interstate 90, have set closing dates including Wilsons Leather, Ann Taylor Factory Store, L’eggs Hanes Bali Playtex and Huntley Antique and Jewelry Mall, which are planning to close this month, and Bass Factory Outlet, which has set a March 12 closing date, according to the Northwest Herald.

Darna Furniture and Banana Republic Factory Store have not yet announced closing dates.

Many of these stores are currently offering steep discounts, according to the Huntley Outlet Center’s Facebook page.

Huntley Investment Partners LLC, which consists of California-based Craig Realty Group, Chicago’s Prime Group Inc. and Elgin’s Capital Realty and Development, bought the center last April and have said industrial use and an major overhaul is being considered for the property, the Northwest Herald reports.
The center itself will completely close when the final store shuts its doors, Michael Reschke, founder of The Prime Group, told the Chicago Tribune.

The center opened in 1994 and in its first year, saw double-digit sales growth and hit 92 percent occupancy in 1999, according to the Chicago Tribune. That quickly changed, dropping to 76 percent occupancy in 2011.
With the hopes of drawing more shoppers to the mall, the village of Huntley moved forward with building a new tollway interchange at Interstate 90 and 47, but occupancy continued to drop off---reaching 50 percent by 2015, according to the article.

"The other outlet centers that have been successful in Chicago, Rosemont and Aurora took all the wind out of its sails," Reschke told the Chicago Tribune.

More via the Chicago Tribune and Northwest Herald

• Huntley Outlet Center Could Close by Next Year

Photo via GoogleMaps