A lot of local folks are asking, “How is the Huntley Outlet Center doing?”
As they say in the famous song, “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.”
Is the 30-year-old center doing well or not? The Sun Day recently asked this question of mall owners, store owners, shoppers, Village of Huntley officials, and a key local real estate broker. Whether we got a positive or negative answer depended on who we asked.
Drive up to the center off Freeman Road, and the first thing we see, and feel, is a bumpy, pothole-filled, cracked parking lot. In contrast, Enter the Christopher & Banks factory discount store, and you find a beautifully decorated interior chock full of attractive displays of women’s apparel. And there’s a often a good number of shoppers there. The parking lots, front and back, are 75% empty, but you soon realize this means you don’t have to deal with large crowds in the stores or the food court.
Walk around the sidewalks and you occasionally see uneven sections difficult to navigate, especially in winter. But you don’t have to walk long distances in bad weather to reach your shopping destination.
You probably notice a lot of vacancies. In fact, less than 30 of the more than 70 store spaces are currently occupied. If you’re looking for footwear, however, you can still find five options – G.H. Bass, Reebok, Rockport, Skechers, and SAS Factory Store. And the DressBarn, Eddie Bauer, Ann Taylor, and Banana Republic, and a half-dozen other outlets are still there with their designer fashions and sportswear, all at discount prices. A spokesman for Hearing Help Express, a hearing aid distributor, said, “Our location in Huntley has worked well for us, and we recently got a very good discounted deal on our rent.”
Hungry? Go to the food court, and you’ll find Asian Express, Cinnamonster, and Great Steak and Potato. The other six spaces in the court are vacant. On the other hand, you won’t have to wait in long lines. The court often is empty.
If you’re a visitor or new to the area, you could have some difficulty finding the center. Driving west on the I-90 tollway, there are three signs, two of them large and prominent, directing you to exit on Route 47 to the right. But as you head north and approach Freeman Road, there is no signage directing you to turn right (east) again and circle around to reach the mall. A sign that formerly stood at the southeast corner of Freeman and 47 was taken down during the I-90 interchange construction and hasn’t been re-installed.
“The sign is propped up behind the east wall of the center and nobody has put it up at that intersection,” said Dolores Matousek, whose husband, John, owns the Huntley Antique and Jewelry Mall, located at the center’s eastern end. “Potential shoppers often can’t get in here to us, because they don’t see directions.”
For the first 15 years of its life, the center was Huntley’s sole claim to fame. It was the first outdoor mall in the Huntley area. It was the best known commercial enterprise in the village. Sun City, the expanded Route 47 corridor, Walmart, and newly rising I-90 enterprises didn’t exist. Huntley’s population was only 2,500, but the center’s reach was wide. Shoppers came from Elgin, Crystal Lake, Rockford, Hoffman Estates, and many other Chicago-area suburbs to take advantage of factory outlet discounts at the nearly 60 stores located right on the I-90 tollway.
Then, a few years ago, competition and construction showed up. Walmart built less than a mile away, and other big-box stores and shopping centers sprang up on Randall Road to the east, pressuring the outlet with competitive discounts, special events, and aggressive sales. The development of dozens of new small businesses in downtown Huntley and along Route 47 distracted local shoppers, some residents said.
Then came construction, setting up unanticipated obstacles for would-be outlet shoppers. The widening of Route 47, and later the expansion of the I-90-Route 47 interchange, took a combined total of four years to complete. Work on widening of I-90 will be done in a year. Shopper attendance declined, and many stores left. The expanded interchange is expected to help, but that will take time, most store owners say.
Shoppers often talk about the stores that have left, rather than the ones that are there now. “I used to go to the mall a lot more often when there were more stores,” one Sun Citian said. But Bath & Body, Paper Store, Kitchen Store, Liz Claiborne, Mikasa, and a home store have all left. I wonder why.”
Another Sun City resident commented, “The empty parking lot doesn’t look inviting, but there still are some nice stores there.”
And Another said, “I don’t go there very much anymore.”
There is evidence, however, of a possible turnaround, at least the start of one. Rick Scardino of Lee Associates, a Rosemont-based commercial real estate leasing company, was hired about a year ago to revitalize the mall’s marketing. He has brought in Skechers and Christopher & Banks earlier this year, and he is upbeat about the future.
“We are recovering from a severe economic downturn in 2009 in commercial leasing, and an enormous amount of road work in the area around the mall,” Scardino said. “There is a kind of herd mentality among commercial owners. Their future outlooks are affected by the economy and because of vacancies in malls. Simon Properties hired us because we are local, and the outlet center is not a daily need stop for shoppers. Our firm and the center are a good fit. We have seen some increased interest in the Huntley location recently. Homes are aging or starting to age in the area, and there is growing demand for hard goods, remodeling and upgrading of kitchens and baths. Many of the stores that are now empty are ready-made for new tenants. We see a lot of opportunity for growth in Huntley.”
Flip the outlet coin over, however, and you get strong criticism from Huntley Mayor Charles Sass. His comments were directed at The Simon Properties Group, mall owners, “I don’t like the way the place looks,” he said. “The deterioration there has created some trip hazards for shoppers. We have expressed our concerns about the parking lots and sidewalks to Simon, and they have not responded. I don’t go there very much anymore. The place’s infrastructure needs to be upgraded. I need to hear something from them.”
Victor Narusis, business recruitment coordinator for the village, gives Simon high marks for hiring Scardino. “The best thing Simon has done recently is to bring Rick on board,” Narusis said. “He is local, knowledgeable, experienced, and tenacious, and he will market the center effectively. I can’t imagine a better person to be in that role now.”
In contrast, Narusis echoed the mayor’s comments about the bad condition of the mall’s infrastructure. “We have done our best to work with Simon, we have told them of our concerns. We have given them all of the information that they need about the problems there, and our patience frankly is running out.”
Scardino expressed a more patient view regarding maintenance. “They [Simon] are trying to take care of the property as budget dollars allow,” he said. “The last two winters have played havoc with the site, and they have properties all over the country that probably need to be upgraded.”
Simon and its public relations firm in New York City have not responded to the Sun Day’s questions about the maintenance of the mall property and the village’s concerns. In response to an initial email inquiry earlier this season, Darcy Rutzen, area general manager said, “We are actively leasing Huntley Outlet Center and recently welcomed the addition of Christopher & Banks.” They also touted their pre-Christmas sales activities at all of the Huntley stores.
Christopher & Banks spokesperson Monica Dahl said, “We are pleased to open another location in Illinois, and we believe Huntley to be a good fit for our concept of serving women of all sizes. The store’s performance is meeting our expectations. It would be inappropriate for me to address your specific comments on the property conditions.”
Anna Chu, proprietor of Asian Express in the mall, said, “All of us wish more people were coming, but now that the construction has finished, we hope that will change.”
Gayle Beinlich is the store leader at the Dressbarn, a women’s apparel factory store that has been in the center for more than 20 years. “We’re struggling, but we’re doing okay, and we are continuing to sponsor fashion shows and other events in the Huntley community, including Sun City.”
Add all of this up, and you have a mall that’s a bit timeworn, store owners that remain optimistic, and a village that is getting impatient. It depends on whether your priority is sales, or infrastructure.
