Ross Dress for Less to open Saturday in Tinley Park, Evergreen Park

Ross Dress for Less will open stores Saturday in Tinley Park and Evergreen Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

California-based off-price retailer Ross Dress for Less will open 24 new stores nationwide on Saturday including locations in Tinley Park and Evergreen Park.

The Tinley Park store will open at 7290 W. 191st St. in the Brookside Marketplace while the Evergreen Park site will open at 9142 S. Western Ave. in the same plaza as Menards on the former grounds of the Evergreen Country Club.

The two stores will be the fifth and sixth Ross locations in the Southland. The retailer entered the Chicago market a couple of years ago when it opened stores in Orland Park and Matteson. It has since opened a store in Calumet City. Also opening Saturday will be Ross stores in Vernon Hills and Schaumburg.

The new stores will bring the total Ross Dress for Less locations to 31 in Chicagoland.

Ross stores typically carry brand name apparel and home goods products priced 20 percent to 60 percent less than at department and specialty stores.

The chain has more than 1,000 stores in 27 states. Each store employs about 50 associates.

Both new stores will open at 9 a.m. Saturday. Each store is offering shoppers a chance to win a $500 shopping spree or one of five $100 shopping sprees.

Store hours will be Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

For information about Ross, visit Ross Dress for Less  or check out their Facebook page.

Dominick's stores to close

California-based Safeway Inc. announced Thursday that it would close or sell all 72 Dominick's Finer Foods stores in the Chicago area and exit the Chicago marketplace.

The company then announced it had already sold four stores to the new parent of Jewel-Osco including one at 14200 S. Bell Road in Homer Glen.

Other Dominick's slated to close in the Southland include locations in Frankfort, Matteson, Palos Heights, Merrionette Park and Countryside.

Companies reportedly interested in acquiring some of the Dominick's stores include Butera Market, Pete's Fresh Market, Strack & Van Til and Angela Caputo's Fresh Markets.

Pete's has already acquired and transformed former Dominick's stores in Calumet City and in Chicago's East Side neighborhood, and Strack converted a former Dominick's in Crestwood, so those companies have a history with Dominick's.

Safeway said it wanted to be out of the Chicago marketplace  by early in 2014.

The chain, founded in Chicago in 1918, was purchased by Safeway for $1.8 billion in 1998. It has seen its share of the Chicago market shrink from about 33 percent to 9 percent.

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 follow business happenings at Comings & Goings.