Niles power outage affects last minute shoppers in the valley, making it lights out for many stores in the Eastwood Mall complex.

When a widespread power outage shut down some stores in the Eastwood mall complex late Monday morning, it was a potential holiday disaster. 

With the outage lasting nearly two hours, shoppers and stores needed to adapt. 

“We heard the boom and everything kind of just went out, and I was just like I know we turned everything on today. We did have a few people in here. My associates were great. We were holding flashlights,” said Miranda Ballmer, store manager of the Youngstown Clothing Co. in Niles.

Some of the outer plazas in the Eastwood Mall complex including Kohl's, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Meijers were without power. The outage extended along State Route 46 just south of State Route 82.

In the Eastwood Mall, only a select number of stores lost their power. Some of those stores who lost power are Youngstown Clothing Co. and Hubbard Music.

Although most of these stores lost their power for about five minutes, JCPenney lost their power for about two hours.

One JCPenny shopper said the outage put her behind schedule.

“I didn't think I was going to be able to get it all done. Because I still had a couple things to get for some grandchildren and I was like no. I was hoping to get it done,” said Tina Gill of Girard.

The outage also disrupted many other last minute shoppers for many different reasons. One shopper said it made his last minute shopping more stressful.

“It makes it a bit more stressful, because it's already last minute, and got to figure out what to do then,” said Jordan Gregory of North Lima.

Another said she missed out on stores she’s been looking forward to visiting.

“We wanted to get to big lots because all of the stores are closing, so we are hoping this is our last day to come out and shop,” said Jenna Gregory of North Lima.

Another shopper said this disrupted his schedule for the day.

“Today was the last day that I had to come out, and it kind of messed up my routine,” said Kurt Lewis of Warren.

Mall management said no one lost an entire day of sales. 

“Any stores that did have to close their doors, they've been fully reopened since the power came back on. You know, for something like this to happen on a busy day, it's unfortunate and we apologize for any inconvenience,” said Johnny Chechitelli, director of marketing and communications for the Eastwood Mall.

According to the Niles city light department superintendent, the power went out after a family of squirrels chewed through power lines near the holiday inn. The businesses lost power around 10:15 a.m. All the power was restored around 12:00 p.m.

The stores in the Eastwood Mall will be open until 10 p.m. Monday, and open Christmas Eve from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.