Carson's In Evergreen Plaza Aims For Black Friday Opening

EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- Carson’s is coming back to Evergreen Plaza as a new concept store, blending brick and mortar with online shopping. The store plans to reopen Nov. 23 -- Black Friday -- at 9700 S. Western Ave., Evergreen Park. The new Carson’s will be open some days for retail shopping, and other days for online order pick-up.

The Chicago-born retailer shuttered all of its stores under the Bon Ton banner throughout the country earlier this year. Carson’s stores in Evergreen Park, Orland Park and Chicago Ridge underwent a mass liquidation sales, including store fixtures, over the summer. The aging Plaza indoor shopping mall was demolished in 2014 and is currently undergoing redevelopment, which included the opening of a prototype, standalone Carson’s in 2016. (SUBSCRIBE: Get Real-Time Alerts and a Daily Newsletter for Oak Lawn)

Merrillville, IN.-based The Bon-Ton Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of CSC Generation, bought the intellectual property of Carson’s and six other Bon-Ton store brands for $900,000 in a bankruptcy court-supervised auction, Northwest Indiana Times reported. CSC Generation bills itself as a “decentralized, multi-brand technology platform that is saving companies from Amazon.”

The company also owns DirectBuy, a buying membership that functions mainly as an e-commerce site, which is handling Carson’s online trade.

Evergreen Park was confirmed as Carson’s first location earlier this week. Mayor Jim Sexton said that the village board approved the new concept Carson’s business license on Oct. 5.

Carson’s will be open for walk-in retail from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, and for online order pickups Monday through Wednesday. CSC Generation said in a news release that Carson’s intends to provide former loyal customers with the “brands and prices they know and love along with new services ranging from interior design to personal styling.”

The Evergreen Park store will be managed by 18-year Carson’s veteran Lisa Beardsley. This Thursday, Nov. 1, Carson’s will be holding a job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Evergreen Park location.

“Former team members and customers will receive priority consideration for dozens of opportunities ranging from visual merchandising to customer service,” Beardsley said.

Von Maur announced plans earlier this month to open in the former Carson's space in Orland Square Mall.

~ Patch file photo