Rosemont gives permission to drink while you shop at mall

Shoppers at Rosemont's Fashion Outlets of Chicago mall will soon be able to walk with a glass of wine as they shop.

The village board Wednesday granted mall owner Macerich permission to install a wine bar kiosk, where shoppers will be able to sit and have a glass, or take a plastic glass to go as they walk from store to store.

"This is big in high-end retail places," Mayor Brad Stephens said. "But they've been warned they need to manage how this stuff is dispersed and how people walk throughout the mall."

The wine bar would be at the north end of the mall's first floor near the concierge services area. Macerich now must return to the village with plans of what the bar will look like.

Gibson's Bar & Steakhouse operated a similar wine bar on the mall's second level for a short time, but it wasn't until Wednesday that the village granted approval for patrons to be able to drink wine while they shop the two-story, 538,000-square-foot indoor mall.

The mall, located at Balmoral Avenue and the Tri-State Tollway, opened in July 2013.