Ridgeway Chevrolet to remain GM dealership in Lansing

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Ridgeway Chevrolet in Lansing has a new lease on life as a GM dealership now that the automaker has decided not to end its franchise agreement with the 83-year-old car store.

Sales manager David Crutchfield said the dealership was notified last week that it was one of 600 dealerships GM said would not have to go through the appeal process to remain in the GM family. The automaker last year said it was dropping franchise agreements with more than 2,000 dealerships, but more than 1,100, including Ridgeway, appealed that decision.

Some longtime Southland GM dealerships have already closed, including Gibson Chevrolet in neighboring South Holland.

Crutchfield said the news was icing on the cake for the dealership. “We just had our best February ever,” he said. “It’s nice that we are going to stay a GM dealer, but we were going to stay open no matter what. We were ready to be a great used car store.”

Crutchfield said the dealership was down to its last dozen 2009 models and a half-dozen 2010 models.

“As soon as the paperwork goes through we’ll be ordering 200 new cars,” Crutchfield said. “But we have a great used car inventory right now.”
Crutchfield said the dealership’s service department “carried us through a tough time.”

He also attributed the store’s success to owner Bob Van’s philosophy. “Bob defies logic,” Crutchfield said. “But he’s always right on.”

Ridgeway was opened in 1927 by Van’s grandfather and the store is the second oldest business in Lansing.

For more information, call Ridgeway at 708-872-1012 or visit www.ridgewaychevy.com

Vic’s Barbecue in Worth

A new barbecue restaurant opened recently in Worth. Vic’s Barbecue is now open at 11306 S. Harlem Ave. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday. The phone number is 708-448-5000.

Did Tinley Park connection help bring down Boston Blackie's?

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

I can’t help wondering whether Tinley Park is responsible for the seeming collapse of the Boston Blackie’s gourmet hamburger chain.

The owners of the gourmet hamburger chain and one of its managers were charged today with stealing $1.8 million from at least two Chicago banks in a check-kiting scheme. That’s when you deposit checks from one bank at another bank and help yourself to the money before the new bank finds out the checks are worthless. The new bank is left holding the bag for the missing funds.

Prosecutors also said today that one of the owners, Nick Giannis, 62, was arrested in Detroit while trying to cross the border into Canada. Not good.

Before any of this took place, however, Giannis and his son Chris, 38, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November. At the time, they listed debts of $6.4 million against assets of about $17,000.

A couple of months before that, Boston Blackie’s lost its Tinley Park location when a lender foreclosed on the property in the 6700 block of South Street. The lender claimed in the suit filed in August that the chain owed him $862,000.

The property is now vacant. It used to be home to the Bremen Cash Store, which Boston Blackie’s bought in 2003. The chain originally planned to convert the building into apartments and a Boston Blackie’s restaurant. Then a Carson’s Ribs carryout was added to the plan.

For years, nothing happened. Then, citing safety concerns, the store was demolished in 2008 leaving a gaping crater. After several months, the crater was finally filled in early last year. Then nothing happened until the foreclosure, and nothing has happened since.

As I recall, back in 2003 Boston Blackie’s was a well-respected chain. Its burger was called by some the best in Chicago. Then the Tinley Park location was announced and Boston Blackie’s has been in a downward spiral ever since.

The chain may yet survive, though its immediate prospects are pretty dim. All Tinley Park has to show for its years-long dalliance with the company is a vacant lot. I guess it could have been a lot worse.

Flossmoor Station brew wins tasty honor

GuidePost: Bourbon McElroy, an imperial stout brewed by Bryan Shimkos of Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery, was named 2010 Champion Real Ale of Chicagoland. The beer was honored through ballots cast by folks at the Chicago Beer Society's Day/Night of the Living Ales celebration at Goose Island's Wrigleyville brewpub last week, reports the Chicago Beer Examiner.

Bourbon McElroy is a bourbon-barrel aged version of Flossmoor Station's Dark Matter Imperial Stout. The barrel-aged version is estimated at 10.5% alcohol by volume. It's been described as combining notes of bourbon, oak, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and other flavors.