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First Look: Cheesecake Factory Opening in Orland Park Wednesday

The new 9,400 square-foot restaurant serving a novel-sized menu of entrees and cheesecakes opens this week for business. Take look inside while they held a test run over the weekend.

While walking into Orland Park’s latest addition to its dining scene Friday night, diners were given instructions. Order entrees and an appetizer from specific menus, ask the server a specific question about take out service and pay attention to how knowledgeable the servers are on the roughly 250 menu items available, we were told. Test lunches and dinners were held Friday and Saturday at the new Cheesecake Factory, on the west side of Orland Square Mall next to Macy’s, as part of the lead up to the restaurant’s opening on Wednesday at 11 a.m. “We have 270 staff members for the Orland Park location, and depending on the position, some have been in training for about the last three weeks,” said Alethea Rowe, senior director of public …

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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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Best Routes to Drive to Orland Square Mall on Black Friday

With serious shopping comes heavy traffic. Patch has a few suggestions for getting in and out of the large retail center during one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Big crowds at shopping centers mean clogged roadways, and that can certainly be the case near Orland Square Mall. We have a few driving suggestions to lessen your holiday madness. With the mall opening for business at midnight Friday, LaGrange Road will likely be crowded, with its connections to I-80 and I-55.   With that in mind, here are a few suggestions for getting into the mall area, most of which avoiding LaGrange Road. Also, try our interactive map above to plan your own route. From the North From the South From the East From the West

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White Wedding on Black Friday

Edward Kossman and Jennifer Jasudowicz met six years ago on Black Friday at Orland Square Mall. The couple married at the same spot they met on this year's Black Friday, Nov. 25.

Black Friday is a door-busting, deal-making shoppers holiday that sees millions upon millions of Americans rush stocked shelves in an effort to take home the best bargain — and this year was no different. There was a twist on this year's Black Friday activities at Orland Square Mall, though, as Edward Kossman and Jennifer Jasudowicz of Burbank tied the knot on the second floor of the shopping mall, taking each other as husband and wife before family, friends and shoppers. The couple, who met six years ago at nearly the exact spot they were wed, said the unusual locale was the perfect spot to seal their love. “I'm very, very, very happy and I'm just glad we made it, especially here of all places," Jasudowicz said.  "This was incredible, to …

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Couple Found Love on Black Friday, Returning to Orland Square Mall for Wedding

Neither were expecting to find their match when they chose to go shopping on Black Friday, but now they are returning to Orland Square Mall to get married…on Black Friday.

Edward Kossman didn’t think Jennifer Jasudowicz would even talk to him. “I thought for that split second that I could let her walk out of my life, or just go up to her,” Kossman, 47, said. “Something just made me do it. I’m pretty bold guy, but I don’t just normally go right up to women and just ask them.” Little did he know that Jennifer had her eye on him, too. Even through the massive crowd of people at Orland Square Mall on Black Friday five years ago, the two found each other. And now five years later, they are returning to the spot they met to become husband and wife. “Usually, when guys approach me I brush it off, but I think we were destined to meet that day,” Jasudowicz, 36, said. Neither Kossman nor Jasudowicz ordinarily shop in …

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Moms Take Aim at Spencer's Explicit Gifts: MomTalk Q&A

Should the Orland Park store be allowed to carry sexually explicit merchandise if teens are shopping in the mall?

Spencer's Gifts in Orland Square Mall has come under scrutiny recently. Known for its silly cards, gag gifts and novelty items, as well as some sexually explicit products, the store is a favorite among the teen crowd. Following complaints from patrons that resulted in a police seizure of $22,000 in sex-related items, Spencer's was ordered to comply with state statute that required inappropriate materials, or those items intended for a more mature audience, be corralled in an area off-limits to underage patrons. So we wondered: Should Spencer's Gifts, given that it is in a mall frequented by minors, be permitted to carry explicit materials as long as the store is in compliance with state statute? Here's the view from the Patch Moms Council…

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