Chaotic Crowd Looking To Buy New Air Jordan Shoes Forces Eastland Mall To Close
By Dan Jenkins
@DanTJenkins
Black Friday has been over for months, but you would never know it if you went to Eastland Center in Harper Woods on Saturday morning.
The mall was forced to close after rowdy crowds piled in for a chance to buy the newly-released Air Jordan Retro 12 "Vivid Pink" sneakers.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the mall opened at 8 a.m. and quickly closed after the crowd rushed the gate and broke a lock. Police got control of the situation and tried to open again at 10 a.m., only to see the same result.
"Both times, it was shut down by the police for public safety -- all over a tennis shoe," general manager William McClure told the Free Press. "It's frustrating. It got unruly, the police shut it down."
There were no reported injuries.
The Kids Footlocker location selling the girls shoes, which have a retail price of $140, stopped selling the sneakers on Saturday due to the crowd's behavior.
Reports say that nearby stores closed as well to avoid the chaos.