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I have more than 40 years in the news business and have successfully evolved into an electronic journalist. Comings & Goings and Southland Savvy track news about businesses in Chicago's Southland.

Red Mango to open Thursday in Orland


Red Mango will open at 11 a.m. on Thursday in Orland Park.
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Red Mango has scheduled its grand opening for Thursday, Nov. 1, at 11 a.m. at 31 Orland Square Dr. in Orland Park. 

The shop sells yogurt and smoothies.

Whole Foods To Open Friday 

Whole Foods will celebrate the grand opening of its new store at 15260 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park with a bread breaking ceremony at 8:45 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 2. There will be live entertainment, sales and giveaways. 

The Texas-based chain said Emily Conklin, who has been with the company for 14 years, would be the store manager. She will be moving over from the supermarket’s store in Chicago’s Lakeview community.

The store is one of eight the company is opening this year. It will be the chain’s 18th store in the Chicago market and the first in the Southland. 

At 27,000 square feet, the store is on the small size, especially when compared to a Meijer or Jewel, but 
Whole Foods prides itself on featuring natural and organic foods that are free of artificial ingredients and hydrogenated fats. 

Whole Foods said the store would bring 150-160 jobs. 

Sperone's Closes

Catching up on this one. Sperone's, an Italian restaurant that opened in the summer of 2010 at 12333 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights closed a few months ago. 

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

Meatheads to open in Frankfort

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy 

Meatheads Burgers & Fries will open its 10th restaurant on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 11143 W. Lincoln Highway in Frankfort. The first 1,000 people to register online will receive a free burger at the new location.

Meatheads plans to be an active Frankfort community member, giving all profits from its soft-opening lunch and dinners to Lincoln-Way Hockey and Frankfort Square Baseball.

For information, call 815-469-0244 or visit Meatheads.

Dunkin’ Donuts to Replace Nino’s

Nino’s Pizza was torn down recently at 4630 Lincoln Highway in Matteson to make way for a Dunkin’ Donuts shop.

The once popular pizzeria had been closed for some time when it fell victim to the wrecking ball this summer.

Village officials have been working since the spring with Samorma Inc. to bring in the doughnut shop. Samorma operates Dunkin’ Donut and Baskin-Robbins shops in Orland Park and Tinley Park.

The new Dunkin’ Donuts will be about 2,400-square-feet and feature a drive-through lane. A second space of about 2,000 square feet will be available for another tenant in the building.

Bank Moves in Cal City 

BMO Harris Bank moved earlier this year from its longtime home at 555 Burnham Ave. to 530 Torrence Ave. in Calumet City.
7-Eleven Opens in Palos Heights
A new 7-Eleven opened recently at 11900 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights between Tastee Freez and Mona Lisa, which vacated the space taken over by the convenience store.
The store is planning a grand opening for Friday, Nov. 9, from noon to 3 p.m. The store is open 24 hours and was granted a liquor license.
If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

Wendy’s opens in Palos Heights

Wendy's opened this week at 12875 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights.
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

A new Wendy’s restaurant opened this week at 12875 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights. The fast-food eatery is in an outlot at the new Jewel-Osco store that opened several weeks ago at 127th and Harlem. 

Diana’s Kitchen delights Metra passengers

Commuters who use the 80th Avenue Metra Station in Tinley Park can finally get a cup of coffee or something to eat on the train while heading downtown for their morning trip. 

Diana’s Kitchen opened last week in the station cafĂ© and from 5-9 a.m. is selling coffee, doughnuts, breakfast sandwiches and other drinks and snacks. 

The restaurant at 167th Street and Oak Park Avenue replaces Isn’t That Sweet, which backed out of a deal to open in the station.

Old Plank Bank takes over First United

New Lenox-based Old Plank Trail Community Bank recently acquired the assets and deposits of Crete-based First United Bank.

Besides the main office in Crete, the failed bank had two branch banks in Frankfort. It has assets of $328 million and deposits of $317 million.

New Look for Food 4 Less

The Food 4 Less grocery store at 5556 W. 159th St. in Oak Forest had a grand reopening recently after the store finished a major remodeling.

The store now features an expanded meat department with full-service butchers, an expanded produce department with organic selections and aisles devoted to foods from around the world.

The store, which is a division of Kroger Foods, opens daily at 6 a.m.

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

LBK Boutique Opens in Tinley Park

Lisa Kopas opened LBK Boutique last month in Tinley Park.
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

If Lisa Kopas had not started selling wedding accessories online in 2005 the Tinley resident would never have dreamed of opening her own store, LBK Boutique at 7913 W. 171st St. in the Tinley Downs Shopping Center.

“I would never have done it without having the online store,” she said. “But I was successful online and was determined to try and do this myself.”

Kopas decided to open the brick and mortar version of LBK Boutique after she lost her job as a controller at a power plant in Ford Heights when it closed.

Kopas, 45, opened the store last month and said business was great until a road and sewer construction project started at the intersection of 171st and 80th Avenue.

“Business has been half of what it was,” she said.

“We sell accessories and gifts for all occasions,” she said. “We have lots of wedding and bridal accessories.”

Store hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store is closed on Sunday.

For information, call 708-468-8649 or visit LBK Boutique online, or its Facebook page, or its ebay store.

Rosati’s Opens in New Lenox

Rosati’s Pizza of New Lenox opened earlier this month at 108 W. Illinois Highway in New Lenox in the former home of Lazy Dogz Burgers and Beef. The location offers carry out and delivery to New Lenox, Joliet, Mokena and Manhattan.

For information, call 815-485-1000 or visit Rosati’s of NewLenox.

Middle Eastern Bakery Opens

Almasi Bakery, which specializes in Middle Eastern baked goods, opened recently at 17845 S. Wolf Road in Orland Park. For information, call 708-478-5535.

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

Chicago Blu closes in Frankfort

Chicago Blu closed last week in Frankfort.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Chicago Blu Grill and Bar closed suddenly last weekend at 19917 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort.

The restaurant opened in 2006 and was acquired by new owners Jay Rodriguez, Lisa Corona, and Scott and Rachel Zdanek in August 2010.

The company posted this note about the closing on its Facebook page on Oct. 14: 

"We regret to inform that we have given our final Last Call yesterday. Many thanks to our dedicated staff and to our loyal customers. It's been a wonderful experience."

A note on the front door and front window simply says, "Closed. Out of Business."

The website has been taken down and its phone number has been disconnected. 

Custom Shirts Shop Now Open 

Customized Teez, a shop that can customize T-shirts, hoodies and even decals for cars, is now open at Ford City Shopping Center, 7601 S. Cicero Ave. The store is open during mall hours. For information, call 773-884-0337 or visit their Facebookpage. 

Graystone Closes Forever 

Tinley Park’s golf scene dimmed a bit with the recent closing of Graystone Golf Links at 7600 W. 171st St. 

The course’s future will remain green but as a sod farm instead of 9-hole golf course. 

Owners of the course decided earlier this year to close the course at the end of this year’s season. They will operate a sod farm on the property while they continue to try and develop the site into a business park.

The course’s golf carts, trucks and other equipment hit the auction block last Friday. 

McDonald's Reopens 

A newly remodeled McDonald's restaurant has reopened at 515 Ridge Road in Munster, Ind. The fast-food restaurant had closed in June for the remodeling.

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.


Harold's Chicken to Replace Fatburger


Harold's Chicken Shack is coming to the former Fatburger
in Chicago's Beverly community.
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Singer Kanye West’s failed Fatburger empire was replaced in Orland Park by a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant earlier this year and looks to soon be replaced in Beverly by another Harold’s Chicken Shack restaurant. 

The Homewood-based Harold’s has signs proclaiming a new location is coming soon to 2341 W. 95th St. in the Beverly community.  

A call to Harold’s corporate office in Homewood was not returned.

Family Dollar Coming to Tinley 

A 9,000-square-foot Family Dollar store is being built in part of the former Walgreens drugstore on the corner of the Tinley Downs strip center at 171st Street and 80th Avenue in Tinley Park. The store is slated to open later this year. 

Love Culture Opens in Orland 

Love Culture, a women’s fashion and accessories store, is now open in the former Bath & Body Works location in the upper level Sears Court at Orland Square Mall in Orland Park. The store had been expected to open in August. For information, visit Love Culture online. 

The mall also announced that the Island Carousel, which had been removed during remodeling, is now back in its rightful place in the lower level J.C. Penney Court. 

Hannah & Harry's Closes 

Just a few months after it was reopened under the new name of Hannah & Harry's Restaurant, the former Hannah's restaurant in New Buffalo, Mich., is shuttered again.

The restaurant, which had closed in the summer of 2009, had reopened in June across the Indiana state line in New Buffalo.

The restaurant closed earlier this month and is for sale by its consortium of owners, one of whom wants to reopen the establishment with new partners.

 If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

New Dunkin' Donuts Opens in Oak Lawn


Dunkin' Donuts is now open at 10301 S. Central in Oak Lawn.
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

A new Dunkin’ Donuts has opened at 10301 S. Central Ave. in Oak Lawn in the former Buscemi’s Beef restaurant.

The new doughnut shop offers the usual Dunkin coffee and doughnuts and also has a drive-up window.

Except for a coin-laundry, the rest of the retail strip is vacant, which may be the result of a lengthy foreclosure case that dates back to February 2011.

Cosi Closes in Orland Park 

Updating an item first reported in May, Cosi has closed its restaurant at 15139 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park. 

Emails to the company were not answered then or this week regarding the 3,000-square-foot restaurant at Orland Park Place, but the Deerfield-based chain is in trouble and its stock closed down at 68 cents per share on Friday.

The nearest Cosi is now in Hinsdale. 

Liquor is Quicker in Orland

The Orland Park Village Board last week approved a full liquor license for The Cheesecake Factory under construction at Orland Square Mall and beer and wine licenses for the Baker’s Square locations at 15711 S. Harlem Ave. and 14651 S. LaGrange Road.
 
PetSmart Closing in Lansing

The Petsmart store at 17525 S. Torrence Ave. in Lansing is closing at the end of business on Sunday, Oct. 28. The store is in the midst of a closing sale, if you need any pet supplies.


If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.
 


Office Depot to Close in Orland Park

Office Depot is closing in Orland Park on Dec. 12.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Office Depot will be closing its store at Orland Park Place on Dec. 12 and is expected to move sometime in 2013 into a much smaller space across the street in Ravinia Plaza.

The move is part of the office supply retailer’s move away from larger stores into much smaller stores.

“During the past few years, Office Depot has been focused on improving the in-store shopping experience for our customers by remodeling stores into a smaller format, which makes them more intimate and easier to navigate,” Office Depot communications manager Julianne Carelli said in an email. “The current store is nearly 22,000 square feet and does not fit in with our new format plans. 


“The relocated, smaller format store will be about 7,000 square feet and is anticipated to open in the near future at a convenient area location,” Carelli wrote.

Office Depot is seeking bids for a location at 15202 S. LaGrange Road, according to bidclerk.com.

The company said it would continue to serve its customers through retail stores in Chicago Ridge and Frankfort or online at Office Depot. 

New Cowboy Bar in Town

Country and western music fans have a new place to wet their whistler now that The Saloon at Bourbon Street has opened at 3359 W. 115th St. in Merrionette Park.

Bourbon Street turned its former Nightclub into The Saloon last week and will feature live country acts, country DJs, dance hits and line dance lessons on Thursday nights.

For information, call 708-388-8881 or visit The Saloon on Facebook.


If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

UPDATE: Fairplay Foods Now Open in Oak Lawn

Fairplay Foods may open as soon as this week at 87th and Cicero in Oak Lawn.
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Editor's Note: Fairplay opened on Sunday and its official grand opening will be Thursday.

Though the company says no opening date has been set for the new Fairplay Foods store at 87th Street and Cicero Avenue in Oak Lawn, employees say they have been working inside the store this week and were told the store will hold a soft opening starting Thursday, Oct. 11, with the official grand opening to occur a week later on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Employees could be seen entering and leaving the store and working inside on Tuesday, so it looks as if the opening is imminent.

Charter Fitness Moves in Mokena

The Charter Fitness health club on 191st Street in Mokena moved last week into its new digs in the village at 19816 S. LaGrange Road next to the Brookhaven grocery store.

The phone number will remain unchanged at 708-479-4477. For information, visit them online at Charter Fitness Mokena.

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

Tribes Alehouse Opens Today in Tinley

Tribes Alehouse officially opened its Tinley Park location today.
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Tribes Alehouse officially opened its Tinley Park location at 5 p.m. today at 171st Street and LaGrange Road in the former Charley Horse sports pub.

Owner Niall Freyne, who opened Tribes Alehouse at 11220 Lincoln Highway in Mokena in November 2009, said he gutted the interior and started from scratch.

"I went against the rules and made the space inside smaller," he said. "But we are doubling the size of the bar and will have seating for 135."

"We'll start with 50 beers on tap and I hope to add a few as we go along."


Over the winter, Freyne hinted at his intentions in a message to followers on Twitter that said a Tinley Tribes would be nice.

Tribes Alehouse also has a full bar and an American-style Brasserie menu. 

For information, visit their Facebook page.

Miroballi Plaza Now Open

Miroballi Shoes is now open in its own plaza at 144th Place and LaGrange Road in Orland Park. The store was one of the businesses forced to relocate with the closing of Orland Plaza earlier this year.

Owners Dan, Tony and Perry Miroballi decided to build their own retail center, with space for additional tenants.

The store has been a fixture in Orland Park for more than 40 years after moving from its original home in Chicago’s Beverly community. There also is a store in Wheaton.

It’s Greek to Me No More

It’s Greek to Me closed recently at 13119 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park. The restaurant opened in March 2010. Its website is shut down and the phone number is disconnected.

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bob@chicago-patch.com.

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.