After nearly three weeks of temporary closure, the Kohl’s Department store building at Eastland Mall has reopened to Bloomington-Normal.
The store had a soft launch opening Friday as it returned to its regular business hours.
On Oct. 6, a juvenile girl allegedly struck the entrance wall of the store with her car and was hospitalized after the crash around 4 a.m. Her injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Della Lewis of Bloomington said Friday she is a fan of Kohl’s.
“I like Kohl’s. I know it was bad when they had the accident, but I’m glad it’s back open,” she said. “Prices, it’s easy to find things in here, too, and then they have good customer service.”
Lewis said she heard of the crash the same day it happened, and her first thought was she feared the store could close.
Bloomington Fire Department confirmed the crash ignited a fire along the exterior wall of the building.
Kohl’s had approximately $5 million worth of merchandise inside the building. They have insurance on both the building under their ownership and the merchandise. It is not known how much was damaged.
But when Lewis came to the store Friday, it had reopened to her surprise.
“I just knew there was something I needed, and I wanted to come by,” she laughed. “I saw it wasn’t all blocked off in front of the door, so I said, ‘I guess they’re open then.'"
Lewis was among other store-goers who were delighted to find the store open.
Ruth Whitehouse of Bloomington told her friend she was hoping the store was open as they arrived. Whitehouse said she was relieved the Bloomington location did not close like other Kohl’s stores.
“I hate shopping online and it seems like every time I turn around my card keeps getting compromised,” Whitehouse said. “I’m one of these I like to feel and touch … it’s like back in the old days when they had to open up the Sears catalog to order everything and wait months to get your stuff ... I don’t want that.”
Whitehouse said she misses stores like Bergner’s, where she worked off and on for 40 years.
Whitehouse and her friend Debbie Martin, also of Bloomington, both regularly shop at Kohl’s. As a former employee of the Bloomington store, Martin was glad to see the store was open in preparation for the holidays.
“I’m looking forward to all the Christmas decorations and holidays. I have a lot of grandchildren to buy for, so hopefully they have some good prices,” Martin said. “They still have a lot of work to do to get things back on the shelves.”
Martin said her favorite part of the store was the fine jewelry section, which the location had gotten rid of before its temporary closure.
Chris Switzer of Bloomington was by himself as he explored possible gifts ahead of the winter holidays. Switzer’s frequency at the store ebbs and flows.
“Maybe once every couple months, more so during the holiday season when we do the Brightpoint 'Adopt a Family' thing, so we use Kohl’s a lot because they have a lot of the stuff we need,” he said.
Switzer agreed the department store is important for the community. It is the last remaining anchor store in the mall.
“I think it’s good to support it, so that we do have something like a storefront that has tangible items that we can get the same day and not have to rely on having them delivered or utilizing Amazon,” Switzer said. “I like to see businesses do well in the Bloomington-Normal area. It’s good for our economy.”
Switzer said another empty storefront in Bloomington-Normal is not ideal for the community.
A store manager declined to comment.
