The Nordstrom just off of North Michigan Avenue bore few signs Sunday of the fatal shooting that had taken place less than 48 hours earlier amid a crowd of holiday shoppers.
The luxury department store reopened for the first time since police say 31-year-old Marcus Dee fatally shot his ex-girlfriend there Friday night before turning the gun on himself in what police described as a domestic-related shooting. It wasn't packed; it wasn't empty.
But a few small things stood out.
Employees exchanged hugs in the first-floor accessories department. A large bouquet of flowers was displayed near the escalators on the first floor with a hand-written note to the victim, employee Nadia Ezaldein, and her family saying, "We will miss her."
"We just decided yesterday that it felt OK to open today," Nordstrom spokeswoman Tara Darrow said Sunday morning. "Sometimes coming back to work and being surrounded by co-workers helps with processing things."
Darrow said the decision to close the store was meant to "give our employees time to regroup and support each other and just out of respect of our employee's family."
Ezaldein, 22, was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon after she had been put on life support. After an autopsy Sunday, the Cook County medical examiner's office said she died of a gunshot wound to the forearm and head. Ezaldein had been working at the store as a seasonal employee since Oct. 21, Darrow said.
Darrow said the store did not have an estimate on how much it cost to close Saturday - the day after Black Friday - adding that she didn't think the store "would provide something like that."
"At this point that's just kind of been the least of our concerns," she said, adding that three counselors were on site to talk to employees throughout the week. "Individually, we'll work with employees. If they need to adjust their schedule we will deal with that."
Individual employees were not available to speak to a reporter.
Sylvie Hau, 48, who was visiting Chicago for the weekend, said she was surprised the store was already open again and that she "felt funny" about going inside even though she shops at Nordstrom "all the time."
"I guess business must go on," Hau, of Connecticut, said on her way off of Michigan Avenue into the Shops at North Bridge mall, which houses the Nordstrom store at its west end.
Chicago resident Paul Hurn said he wasn't fazed by the shooting but felt bad for the woman's family.
"It doesn't concern me at all, otherwise I wouldn't be here today," said Hurn, 45, who said he spent some time browsing at the store. "I've been in the South Side all my life so I'm used to this."
