Best Buy to Close Old Orchard Location

Minnesota-based Best Buy will be closing their Old Orchard location in Skokie, Ill., on Feb. 3. The company has been downsizing due to a volatile stock price, scandal and online competitors such as Amazon.com.

Best Buy Old Orchard, which first opened its doors in 2001, will be closing for good come Feb. 3, according to the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. Some locals may describe the 9625 Skokie Blvd. location as prestigious solely on its location. Just across the street from the electronics giant is Westfield Old Orchard Mall, which alone accounts for about 40 percent of all sales tax revenue generated in Skokie. An employee at Best Buy Old Orchard acknowledged the closing, but asked her name be withheld due to corporate policy. "They just decided to shut us down," the employee told Patch. "Most of the items we have are already marked 10 percent off; we're gearing up to clear inventory, yes." When asked whether the closing meant lost jobs…

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The Fire Dispatch

'Whatever People Need, We're There for Them'

A former salesman takes on even the little, necessary things to be a firefighter.

For a time, he was a salesman. He worked with all kinds of people at a Best Buy selling electronics getting to know his customers, listening to them and helping them find what they wanted. But in his heart, Michael Wessel, 22, was a firefighter. On Friday Nov. 19 Wessel completed an eight-week training program for the Wilmette Fire Department. He credits his past sales experience as one asset that will come in handy. "It gave me people skills," said Wessel. He is a tall young man with an easy smile, who speaks with a contagious enthusiasm. He has been at the Wilmette Fire Department just two months. "Sales helped me relate to all kinds of people," he said. Wessel, currently a paramedic and part-time firefighter in Woodstock, decided to …

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