During a Black Friday sale, our client, a large national retailer, closed off side aisles near its registers for crowd control purposes. The store placed metal posts with a red velvet rope at the end of each aisle. Plaintiff claimed she tripped over the rope as she was entering the line from one of the side aisles. She alleged that she was caused to fall because the rope was hanging no more than 2-3 inches above the ground. At trial, we established that plaintiff was in the process of climbing over the rope when she fell. We further demonstrated she climbed over the same rope to leave the aisle; that the intended purpose of the rope was to prevent customers from doing so; that plaintiff was aware of its purpose before the accident; and that the rope was The rope was approximately two feet off the ground, its intended height, immediately following the accident. Following bench trial, the Court rendered a verdict in favor of our client, dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint. The Court’s decision stated that the rope was open and obvious and not in inherently dangerous; that the store did not have notice of an alleged defective condition. The court also ruled that plaintiff was obligated to reimburse our client for the cost of the defendant’s expert fee.