Fresh Start for Former Lane Bryant Store in Brookside Marketplace

Drivers jockeyed for space in a parking lot that sat empty just days earlier. Red-and-white bags hung from the arms of most who exited the store, and shoppers marched briskly inside from their cars.

Memories may keep the new T.J. Maxx at Brookside Marketplace from being "just another store," but purchases will be rung up. Gifts will be hand selected.

People will move on.

National retailer T.J. Maxx opened Nov. 7 in the building that formerly housed a Lane Bryant store where five women were slain in February 2008. A gunman opened fire after a robbery gone awry, killing Connie R. Woolfolk of Flossmoor; Sarah T. Szafranski of Oak Forest; Carrie Hudek Chiuso of Frankfort; Rhoda McFarland of Joliet, and Jennifer L. Bishop, 34, of South Bend, IN. Nearly six years later, the killer remains at large.

The 23,000 square feet of space hold thousands of unanswered questions and chilling visions of a man who took the lives of five and broke the hearts of many.

But the community appears ready—and willing—to move forward.

"It's bittersweet," said Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki, of the store opening in the space. "Bitter in that it reminds us of what happened there. But on the other hand, it's a sign that we're moving on. Businesses are moving in."

Customers exited and entered at a steady clip during the lunch hour Thursday—a stark contrast to the hauntingly empty space of the last few years. While retailers swooped into surrounding storefronts in the years since the crime, the Lane Bryant space remained vacant.

"You keep living," said shopper Paula Emerson of Country Club Hills, on visiting the new store. "It just seems like crime is everywhere. ... Life goes on."

But many weren't as thrilled with the reincarnation of the space. Some say the store's dark past may deter them from shopping there. Many argue the building should have been torn down and a memorial erected for the victims.

"I honor my intuition and my instincts, which give me feelings of discomfort in regard to the thought of shopping there, so that is one place I will never enter," wrote Patch commenter Virginia Blank.

T.J. Maxx parent company TJX acknowledged the location's past before the grand opening, announcing a $10,000 donation to Tinley Park-based charity Together We Cope in honor of the victims. Brookside Marketplace owner DDR Corp. then matched the donation.

Still some considered the arrival of the new tenant "tacky." Others contend it's best to honor the victims' memories by pushing past discomfort, not "letting the bad guy win."

"You honor those that died by living and that's what TJM & BM are doing," wrote Tinley Park Patch Facebook fan Lester Scanland. "Donating $20,000 to honor their lives. Which neither of them have to do. They choose to do it. I choose to support them and honor those women!"

One customer, Aileen DiTuri, was initially opposed to shopping there, but the building owner's matching donation swayed her otherwise.

"I initially thought that it was a cheap and tacky move for the marketplace to rent out the store at all and that it should have just been demolished out of respect for the women," said DiTuri, a Tinley Park resident. "But, with the donation, it does seem that the marketplace is treating the memories of the women with respect and acknowledging the horror that happened instead of just pretending it doesn't exist."

Customer Mary Beth Meseko seemed eager to experience the new store.

"I think it's great," Meseko said. "You have to put it behind you."

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