An appearance by teen music sensation Christina Aguilera at a Schaumburg department store turned chaotic Saturday when an estimated 4,000 people showed up.
The fans clogged roads and destroyed merchandise inside the Target Greatland store as some climbed on shelves to catch a glimpse of the superstar. The event was cut short when police and Target staff evacuated the building halfway through Aguilera’s appearance.
No serious injuries were reported, and no arrests were made.
Ambulances were called to treat people for asthma attacks, but no one was taken to a hospital, said Schaumburg Police Sgt. Paul Rizzo. A 28-year-old woman was struck by a motorist as she tried to cross Schaumburg Road and was treated at the scene.
Store manager Matthew Thomas said damage was minimal, but witnesses described bags of potting soil ripped open; magazines, purses and hats strewn about; and shelves–which collapsed as people tried standing on them to get a better view of the 18-year-old singer–lying shattered in the aisles.
The pandemonium left angry, shocked and sometimes crying fans in its wake.
“They were trashing the place,” said Staci Morgan, 13, of Schaumburg as she sat weeping on a curb outside the store. “It was unbelievable. They were opening stuff and throwing it out. It wasn’t right.
“I was up all night (before the event),” she said. “I couldn’t sleep. And I didn’t even get an autograph.”
Target management had expected Aguilera’s appearance to draw about 2,000 fans to the store, at Schaumburg and Barrington Roads, but twice that number turned out, Rizzo said.
Fans started arriving as early as 3 a.m. and stayed in their cars so they could be among the first to meet the teenager whose hit, “Genie in a Bottle,” topped the Billboard charts last year. She recently was nominated for Grammys for best new artist and best female pop vocal performance.
Unknown to many fans, the plan was to let only the first 500 people in line into the store to get autographs, Target employees said. But when so many turned out, a decision was made to allow a separate viewing line that put people within 15 feet of Aguilera.
The result: chaos.
Lines snaked through the store as people pressed up against one another, fighting to keep their place in line. Some climbed onto shelves or a friend’s shoulders for a better vantage point.
“I have worked for Target for 2 1/2 years and I have never seen any store like that before,” said Shaun Guild, a department manager for a Target at Higgins and Meacham Roads in Schaumburg. “You couldn’t move. You couldn’t walk. There were lines all over the place.”
Aguilera was supposed to appear from 2 to 4 p.m. But by 2:30, the crowd was getting out of control.
With thousands of people in the area, Schaumburg police called for assistance from 15 neighboring departments, Rizzo said. About 30 officers were on the scene.
Inside, officials tried to calm the fans by shutting off Aguilera’s music, which was blaring from the store’s sound system. Schaumburg police, WBBM-FM disc jockeys Eddie Volkman and Joe “JoBo” Bohannon and even Aguilera pleaded with people to behave.
“Everyone needs to calm down because it is seriously getting to the point where they are going to close this down,” Aguilera said shortly before the event was called off. “I really, really, really want to sign your autographs, but I can’t do it if you are all over the shelves.”
The store remained closed early Saturday evening. Thomas said it would reopen later in the night.
He declined to answer further questions, referring them to the chain’s headquarters in Minneapolis. Officials there could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Even after the store was closed, the situation outside was bedlam.
Parents and children frantically searched for one another. There were cries of “Where’s my mommy?” and “Where’s my daughter?”
Some adults complained that children were not allowed to use Target’s pay phones to call parents who had dropped them off. Several youngsters crossed a six-lane road searching for a phone.
“This is all about poor management, poor security and a bad choice of place,” said Tim Parke, 33, of Streamwood, who brought his daughter to see the singer.
Aguilera later apologized to her fans on the air at WBBM, an event sponsor. She was scheduled to make a second appearance in Schaumburg at GameWorks in the One Schaumburg Place shopping center Saturday night.
The event was private, and GameWorks officials were not expecting a similar mob scene. But just to be safe, they asked the village to provide extra police, said Rhonda Nolen, GameWorks marketing director.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Nolen said of the Target incident. “I come from the record industry. That’s a normal thing to happen when a superstar makes an appearance.”
