Will You Shop at the New T.J. Maxx?

T.J. Maxx will open Nov. 7 in its new Brookside Marketplace home, in the building that formerly housed a Lane Bryant store where five women were killed in February 2008. 

The retailer has openly acknowledged the tragedy, announcing plans to honor the victims with a $10,000 donation to Tinley Park-based charity Together We Cope. 

The space has been eerily empty since the day a gunman opened fire after a robbery gone awry. Afterward the building stood as a bleak reminder of what was once a bustling women's clothing store, gutted by the tragedy that took the lives of five and broke the hearts of many. 

Five years and thousands of tips later (in 2012, the total stood at 6,602), the gunman remains at large. Victims Connie R. Woolfolk, Sarah T. Szafranski, Carrie Hudek Chiuso, Rhoda McFarland, and Jennifer L. Bishop linger in the minds of many who wonder if he'll ever be caught. 

Today, as T.J. Maxx prepares to open its doors, some customers say the $10,000 donation simply doesn't show enough respect for the tragedy that occurred there.

Some balk at the idea of shopping in a space with such a dark past, saying they can't look past the grief that blankets the area; others will be undaunted, ready to move on.

Tinley Park Patch Facebook fans expressed themselves on the topic.

I won't be going to the new location. It took me a long time to shop in that area after that happened. —Kim Heilman

I will go there no reason to not use a building just learn from the past get cameras up in every tinley park business and catch that pos that shot those women. —Carly Mahoney

Might be thoughtful but it won't be a store I go to! —Pat Grigsby Genardo said of the donation.

Let's hope the first thing they do is install security cameras. I can't believe nothing was captured from any store around there on that horrible day. —Reader Alski

I will not be going to this TJ Maxx, I think it is insensitive for them to move in there. It should have been torn down. —Reader Joe Gerrardo


Will you shop at the new T.J. Maxx? If not, why? 

If the company's gesture wasn't enough, what should they have done? Tell us in the comments.