Black Friday 2012: Strange Things You Saw While Shopping

A woman wading in a mall fountain? A cow in line at Best Buy? Patch hit the local shopping scene Thanksgiving night and Black Friday to talk to shoppers about the craziest, funniest or weirdest stories from the day.

Black Friday is a day for doorbusters, discounts and lines—oh, the lines. Shoppers of the Southland descended upon Orland Park, as the mecca of shopping and home to Orland Square Mall, Best Buy, Target and big names in retail. Patch hit the streets—and the lines—Thanksgiving night and Black Friday to chat with shoppers about their tales from the retail frenzy.  Some, like Nicole Harris, filed into line outside Best Buy as early as 11 p.m. Thanksgiving night, with hopes of an encounter with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Harris sacrificed the comfort of her own bed in the name of shopping.  "We camped out last night in our tent, but we weren't the first ones here, which was kind of a surprise," Harris said. Those in line alongside Harris …

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Christmas 2012 Gifts: What's on Your Wish List?

Yes, already—even before Black Friday. We know the Christmas shopping tends to get done earlier every year in Tinley Park and everywhere else. Here's your chance to tell your friends and family what Christmas gift you want in 2012.

Head to downtown Tinley Park or any nearby stores and you'll see that it's already beginning to look a lot like Christmas 2012 in and around the village. All kinds of gift ideas are out there. READ: Check Out This Year's Holiday Guide to Get You Through the Season For totally local, you can get to Imagine That, The Attic Door or Beads Galore and More to find a one-of-a-kind gift in the heart of Mokena. Maybe the big box stores are your thing? Walmart has already announced it is offering layaway again this year, with the iPad and HP Ultrabook-based laptops on the list of eligible purchases. The store has changed the policy on its open fee, which is kept if you ultimately can't pay for the item or refunded as a Walmart gift card when the …

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Best Buys Will Be Closed

What about ours? There are six Best Buy stores in the south suburbs, but a list of closures isn't known yet.

Best Buy executives may be giving up on some of their big-box stores, according to a Wall St. Journal report on Thursday. The Minnesota-based electronics chain said it would close 50 Best Buy stores. At this time, however, the list of stores to close isn't known. Southland Best Buy outlets are in Tinley Park, Orland Park, Homewood, Matteson, Crestwood and Burbank, and there's a mobile shop in the Chicago Ridge Mall, according to the Best Buy store locator. "I am not satisfied with the pace or degree of change we have made up to this point," Chief Executive Brian Dunn said in a conference call with analysts, adding, "We are evolving our retail store strategy. We are increasing our points of presence while decreasing our overall square …

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A Very Tinley Xmas: More Gift Ideas for the Local Shopping Enthusiast

Have a few more holiday purchases to make? Here's the second of a two-part guide to spending your dollars in town.

If you're on the prowl for last-minute gifts, we have a few ideas. Today we offer you the second half of a two-part feature on buying your gifts locally. READ: Keepin' it in Tinley: Your Guide to Shopping Locally We've put together a list of great ways to keep your dollars here in Tinley Park this holiday, ranging from the affordable to the unique. These gifts do, however, have one thing in common—they all come from local merchants. Jewelry and Harley Davidson cycles? The two might not go hand-in-hand most of the time, but here at Al Blackman, the delicate art of jewelry crafting and the thunderous roar of a motorcycle have been natural partners for close to 70 years. Al Blackman sells a variety of handcrafted and custom pieces at his …

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Carrie Frillman

2:27 pm on Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Flowers are a great Christmas gift idea! Thanks for sharing this. And don't forget to remind your customers to review you on Patch! Here's your listing: http://patch.com/L-dsHQ. It's yours to claim, if you'd like!   more ›

Purposeful Purchases: Shopping Event Planned to Benefit Local Organizations

Vendors, spa services, music, food and fun come together at Orland Park Civic Center while raising needed funds for troops and a local animal shelter.

Christmas season shopping is officially in full swing, but relatives and friends aren't the only ones with a wish list. This is also the time of year when charities see an increased need for funds to keep them going strong. Orland Park residents Lisa Brown, Loma Gigi Hall and Kathleen Herrebout thought if people are willing to spend hundreds, even thousands, on gifts, perhaps they'd also be willing to donate while shopping. The three joined to organize SPAtastic SHOPPortunity, a charitable event with 70 vendors, wine tasting, spa services, music and a buffet featuring appetizers and desserts. Over 400 shoppers attended the event last year where all proceeds after expenses were donated to charity. Among the organizations receiving money …

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What Was Your Best Black Friday Find?

TVs, diamonds, cookware, game systems and computer printers — what were some of the best deals found Friday in Southland stores?

Friday was all about the bargain. Several folks told Patch about their best finds on Friday. Tell us about yours in the comment section. FOUND AT TARGET, OAK LAWN Gina Roach and her mother, Sharon Valente, both of Beverly, caught a few good deals early Friday at Target in Oak Lawn. Their finds included a Fisher-Price laptop for $22.99 and a 9-inch LCD TV for $55, down from $120. "I'm tingling," Valente confessed with a laugh. FOUND AT BEST BUY, HOMEWOOD Mrs. Thomas (who declined to share her first name), of Chicago, visited Best Buy in Homewood to find the last Kinect bundle for $199. The bundle included the gaming system, a controller, a charger and two batteries. Thomas hovered over her merchandise protectively until a salesperson …

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Southland Stories

Tinley Park's New HomeGoods Scored More Points Than the Bears

Sunday's grand opening was a jam-packed affair. Are there other stores you would like to see come to town?

Were you at the HomeGoods store grand opening in Tinley Park Sunday? If not, you might've been the only one. That's not much of an exaggeration as the aisles were packed with curious shoppers and browsers eagerly looking over the home fashions in Brookside Marketplace's newly opened retail outlet. The checkout line stretched more than halfway around the interior of the 25,000-square-foot store at times. Even as the Bears-Packers game loomed, the parking lot was full and mini traffic jams were plaguing the parking lot pathways. In retrospect, a day at the HomeGoods store was preferable to an afternoon with the Bears. To mark the opening, Massachusetts-based HomeGoods donated $5,000 to the Crisis Center for South Suburbia shelter. Looking …

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