T.J. Maxx opens today in Tinley Park

T.J. Maxx opens today in Tinley Park's Brookside Marketplace.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Discount retailer T.J. Maxx will open its new Tinley Park store at 8 a.m. today at Brookside Marketplace at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue.

The 23,000-square-foot store replaces a slightly larger location at 16025 S. Harlem in the Tinley Park Plaza. That store closed Sunday. Its employees were offered transfers to the new store.

As first reported in May, the store will occupy space that formerly housed the Lane Bryant women's clothing store where five women were murdered in February 2008. The killer has not been caught.

T.J. Maxx will make a $10,000 donation to the Tinley Park-based Together We Cope charity in honor of the Lane Bryant victims: Connie R. Woolfolk, of Flossmoor; Sarah T. Szafranski, of Oak Forest; Carrie Hudek Chiuso, of Frankfort, Rhoda McFarland, of Joliet, and Jennifer L. Bishop, of South Bend, Ind.

Kathryn Straniero, executive director of Together We Cope, said the agency was  honored to receive this donation.

“We will use these funds to continue the work we do at this time of the year, which is helping to keep people in their homes during the winter, helping to pay heating bills for residents having financial crises, and putting children in need into warm winter coats. We are honored to do so in memory of the five women who lost their lives in this tragedy.”

Together We Cope is a Tinley Park based nonprofit that serves families in crisis from 22 south suburban communities.

The T.J. Maxx opening is the second of a national chain in that part of Brookside Marketplace, which had lagged behind the rest of the development. A Ross Dress for Less discount store opened last month just to the north and a Kay Jewelers store is set to open in another new building that was recently finished on the site, which is owned by Ohio-based DDR Corp.

Grand opening store hours today will be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Regular hours will be from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

TJX Cos., which owns T.J. Maxx, also operates a HomeGoods store at Brookside Marketplace.

Pure Barre fitness studio opens in Orland Park

Pure Barre, a fitness center for women that uses ballet moves to help women get in shape, opened Tuesday at 14934 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park's Park Pointe Plaza.

"We use small weights as well as the ballet bar to facilitate our workouts," said studio manager Mary Bertke, who is also one of six fitness instructors at the studio. "But dance experience is not necessary."

Bertke said the aim of Pure Barre is to "lengthen and strengthen muscle tone" through isometric movements favored by ballet dancers.

The Orland location is the first in the Chicago suburbs for the chain, which began franchising in 2009 and has grown to more than 150 locations.

Bertke said classes are offered from 5:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m.

For information, call 708-460-4015, visit Pure Barre or check out their Facebook page.

Used car lots coming to Bridgeview

Two new used car lots will be opening soon in Bridgeview.

One will take over a former Citgo gas station and detail shop at 9150 S. Harlem Ave. while the other will take over the former Super Buy Motors car lot at 7158 S. Harlem Ave.

“We’re always glad to see businesses choose Bridgeview as their destination,” said Bridgeview Trustee Claudette Struzik. “It’s an encouraging trend, and we’ll continue to work to draw interest from businesses that will invest in our community and its people.”

Struzik said the businesses were planning on investing nearly $1 million in each location.

Both lots have already been approved by the Bridgeview Village Board.
 

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.