Back from the dead: Months after closing all stores, Carson’s makes a return

Carson’s plans to reopen its store in south suburban Evergreen Park on Black Friday, months after the chain shuttered all of its locations as part of a bankruptcy filing.

Merrillville, Indiana-based CSC Generation bought the intellectual property of Carson’s parent Bon-Ton Stores last month and quickly got its websites back online. Now it said it will reopen the Evergreen Park store and two others, in Lombard and Orland Park, though no return dates were announced for those stores, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Carson’s first opened in the Evergreen Plaza shopping mall in 1964, and reopened there in 2016 after the mall was redeveloped into an outdoor shopping center.

The company said the new store will have familiar brands and prices, and employees trained in interior design and personal styling. But it will only be open Thursdays to Mondays, according to the Tribune.

Word of Carson’s return comes as mall owners getting hit hard by the closings of big-box tenants after bankruptcies, including Toys “R” Us.

Sears earlier this month announced it was filing for bankruptcy and closing more stores.

But in an earnings call last week, David Simon, CEO of mall giant Simon Property Group, said the big box closings provide an opportunity for shopping center owners to redevelop and repurpose the properties. [Chicago Tribune] — John O’Brien