By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy
A new grocery store opened this week in Chicago’s Hegewisch community, making it the third Southland community in the past year to regain a major supermarket after years of going without.
Hegewisch Food Mart opened Tuesday in the former Hart’s Foods at 13209 S. Baltimore Ave. in the Southeast Side community. The neighborhood had been without a supermarket since Hart’s closed a couple of years ago. Residents had to travel to the neighboring East Side community or an adjoining suburb to do their supermarket shopping.
The new store is a full-service supermarket. Owners Eric Roque and his brother Brian Roque could not be reached for comment.
Janice Minton-Kutz, former president of the Hegewisch Chamber of Commerce, hailed the new store’s opening.
“We needed it desperately,” says Minton-Kutz. “It helps fill a huge void in the neighborhood. I hope it succeeds. Eric and Brian put a lot of money into remodeling the new store.”
Last year, Pete’s Fresh Market opened stores in Calumet City and Evergreen Park. Both towns had been without major supermarkets for years.
Supermarkets have been busy in the Southland lately. Kroger’s Food 4 Less discount branch opened a store in Dolton last year and has plans to open one in Chicago Heights later this year in the former Dominick’s Finer Foods. That will join the Los Compadres supermarket that opened in Chicago Heights about six months ago. Aldi also opened stores in the Southland last year in Orland Hills and Lansing.
Bamboo Blue closes, Grady’s to open
Bamboo Blue, an Asian Fusion restaurant in downtown Homewood, has closed its doors after eight years of operation at 18147 Harwood Ave. But it won’t be closed for long. A notice on the Bamboo Blue Web site says a new restaurant called Grady’s owned by the Garofalo family will be opening in early May in the same location.
Edible Arrangements in Lansing adds hours
Edible Arrangements at 3422 Ridge Road in Lansing is now seven days a week. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 708-418-000 or visit www.ediblearrangements.com
Deal of the weekend
Ronald McDonald will be giving away coupons for free ice cream cones at 1 p.m. Saturday at the McDonald’s, 17810 S. Torrence Ave. in Lansing.
Bed Bath & Beyond opens in Schererville
A new Bed Bath & Beyond store opened this week at 124 U.S. 41 in the Town Center shopping center in Schererville, Ind. For more information, visit www.bedbathandbeyond.com
About Me
- Bob Bong
- 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.
Chick-fil-A coming to Orland Park, Aurora
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy
Chick-fil-A, a Southern restaurant chain that features chicken sandwiches, will break ground next month on locations in Aurora and Orland Park.
Company spokeswoman Cindi Pickett said company officials will be in Chicago on April 20 for the groundbreaking ceremonies.
Pickett said the Aurora restaurant is scheduled to open first a few months later with the Orland location opening about three weeks after that.
Pickett said the Orland location is planned for an out lot on LaGrange Road in front of the Lowe’s home improvement store.
Wild wings coming to Calumet City
A Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant is expected to open any day now at 1250 S. Torrence Ave. in the former Bennigan’s restaurant. The Calumet City Council last week approved a sign variance for the restaurant.
Mattress Express closing
Mattress Express is closing its store at 358 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort in the Jewel plaza. The store’s last day is scheduled for March 31. The phone number is 815-806-8090.
Deal of the week
BlueStone Bar & Grill, 2387 E. Joliet Highway, New Lenox, is offering half-price pizza during Chicago Black Hawks and Chicago Bulls games. For more information, call 815-463-9707 or visit www.bluestonebarandgrill.com
Southland Savvy
Chick-fil-A, a Southern restaurant chain that features chicken sandwiches, will break ground next month on locations in Aurora and Orland Park.
Company spokeswoman Cindi Pickett said company officials will be in Chicago on April 20 for the groundbreaking ceremonies.
Pickett said the Aurora restaurant is scheduled to open first a few months later with the Orland location opening about three weeks after that.
Pickett said the Orland location is planned for an out lot on LaGrange Road in front of the Lowe’s home improvement store.
Wild wings coming to Calumet City
A Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant is expected to open any day now at 1250 S. Torrence Ave. in the former Bennigan’s restaurant. The Calumet City Council last week approved a sign variance for the restaurant.
Mattress Express closing
Mattress Express is closing its store at 358 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort in the Jewel plaza. The store’s last day is scheduled for March 31. The phone number is 815-806-8090.
Deal of the week
BlueStone Bar & Grill, 2387 E. Joliet Highway, New Lenox, is offering half-price pizza during Chicago Black Hawks and Chicago Bulls games. For more information, call 815-463-9707 or visit www.bluestonebarandgrill.com
Criminal, prejudicial, comical and hopeful
GuidePosts: Southland educators get jobbed again. The ugly face of racism speaks on the Southwest Side. First GM, now the local pancake house? Government bailouts run amok. And finally, Toni Preckwinkle discovers the Southland. Every week, GuidePosts points you to the must-read stories of the Southland.
Education just isn't that important
Phil Kadner tells it like it is when it comes to the corruption in the useless office of the Cook County Regional Schools Superintendent and the utterly senseless decision of some state lawmakers to turn a blind eye. The office, held by Charles Flowers, is under a cloud of scandal exposed by Southtown reporter Duaa Eldeib, who's now at the Chicago Tribune. Thanks to her reporting, Flowers is now charged with theft and official misconduct.
The Daily Southtown first drew a bead on Flowers back in 2006-2007 when Southtown reporter Angela Caputo, now at Progress Illinois, exposed the nepotism in the office and rampant financial mismanagement, which forced Cook County to loan Flowers money to run his office
Timeless sensibilities
"Mike Corrigan doesn't want to be anybody's villain or a neighborhood hero," writes Casey Cora in one of the most interesting Southland stories of the week. "He's just a guy who wants to see his West Beverly neighborhood packed with white people and no one else."
"What's so wrong with that?" the 62-year-old South Sider asks.
Bowing to pressure, Corrigan covered up the racist signs he posted to scare blacks away from buying the house for sale next door. Clearly, the age-old racial divisions that define so many interactions in the Southland still fester here.
The pancake bailout
This would be funny if it weren't for the fact that the joke is on Country Club Hills taxpayers. Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch gave a city loan to a local eatery that couldn't pay its utility bills. And residents are fuming.
Welcome to our suburbs
Toni Preckwinkle, the Democratic nominee for Cook County Board President, doesn't know much about the Southland. But she's willing to learn. Recently, she's met with the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, the East Hazel Crest-based group that tries to promote the economic interests of 42 suburban communities in south Cook and Will counties, according to the Times of Illinois.
"They presented me with their economic development agenda, and I will do what I can to help implement those projects they desire," Preckwinkle told the paper. "I know that one concern here is access to hospitals and the health care system that the county provides."
She says she'll pay close attention to the fate of Oak Forest Hospital.
Education just isn't that important
Phil Kadner tells it like it is when it comes to the corruption in the useless office of the Cook County Regional Schools Superintendent and the utterly senseless decision of some state lawmakers to turn a blind eye. The office, held by Charles Flowers, is under a cloud of scandal exposed by Southtown reporter Duaa Eldeib, who's now at the Chicago Tribune. Thanks to her reporting, Flowers is now charged with theft and official misconduct.
The Daily Southtown first drew a bead on Flowers back in 2006-2007 when Southtown reporter Angela Caputo, now at Progress Illinois, exposed the nepotism in the office and rampant financial mismanagement, which forced Cook County to loan Flowers money to run his office
Timeless sensibilities
"Mike Corrigan doesn't want to be anybody's villain or a neighborhood hero," writes Casey Cora in one of the most interesting Southland stories of the week. "He's just a guy who wants to see his West Beverly neighborhood packed with white people and no one else."
"What's so wrong with that?" the 62-year-old South Sider asks.
Bowing to pressure, Corrigan covered up the racist signs he posted to scare blacks away from buying the house for sale next door. Clearly, the age-old racial divisions that define so many interactions in the Southland still fester here.
The pancake bailout
This would be funny if it weren't for the fact that the joke is on Country Club Hills taxpayers. Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch gave a city loan to a local eatery that couldn't pay its utility bills. And residents are fuming.
Welcome to our suburbs
Toni Preckwinkle, the Democratic nominee for Cook County Board President, doesn't know much about the Southland. But she's willing to learn. Recently, she's met with the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, the East Hazel Crest-based group that tries to promote the economic interests of 42 suburban communities in south Cook and Will counties, according to the Times of Illinois.
"They presented me with their economic development agenda, and I will do what I can to help implement those projects they desire," Preckwinkle told the paper. "I know that one concern here is access to hospitals and the health care system that the county provides."
She says she'll pay close attention to the fate of Oak Forest Hospital.
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