Senese's Winery closes in Oak Lawn

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Senese’s Winery, an Oak Lawn restaurant since 1973, and its Barrel of Laughs comedy club, which has been serving up laughs since 1977, closed last week. The phone number has been disconnected and the web site has no listings for acts past July 3.

I’m not sure what prompted the decision, but the reader who tipped me to the closing said he heard one of the owners wanted to retire.


Handbag store closing

It’s Not There Bag is holding a store closing sale at 12707 S. Ridgeland Ave. in Palos Heights. The store will remain open until its inventory is sold. The store carries replicas of designer handbags. The phone number is 708-388-0544.

Midwest Eye Center moves

Midwest Eye Center moved recently from Tinley Park into new digs on the upper floor at 19070 S. Everett Blvd. in Mokena. Midwest is one of the first businesses to move into the complex, which has languished with empty storefronts for years.

Qwest Diagnostics also recently moved into the complex.

Caged In reopens
The ultimate fighting store Caged In reopened Saturday at its new digs at 14478 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park. The store closed several weeks ago at its Tinley Park location. The phone number is 708-444-1703. Its web site is still http://www.cagedin.com/ and it has a Facebook fan page.

Concert deal of the week
Indie rock band Made Avail is playing at 8 p.m. Friday at the Apple Store inside Orland Square Mall. The band promises a full-blown concert.

At Palos Flowers and Gift Baskets, business is a family affair

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

It’s a family affair at Palos Flowers and Gift Baskets at 6511 ½ W. 127th St. in Palos Heights, which opened back in early May.

Co-owner Tina Smith has worked in the flower business for 26 years. Her husband, Brian Smith, has been doing it only since the shop opened in the former location of Heights Heritage Flowers, which closed last summer. Before that, he was a driver for the BP refinery in Whiting for 31 years.

Add in some children and in-laws and you have a family business extraordinaire.

“My wife has been arranging flowers for 26 years and we decided Palos Heights needed a local flower shop after Heights Heritage closed,” says Brian Smith explaining why he opened a flower shop after working for BP for three decades.

Smith says response has been great since they opened. “We have between 10 and 16 deliveries per day,” he says.

The store sells floral arrangements, invitations and gift baskets.

Top sellers, Smith says, are a vase arrangement called Fields of Europe and a birthday cake made out of flowers. His personal favorite (which he is pictured holding) is an arrangement that looks like an Appletini.
Palos Flowers hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information, call 708-923-1344 or visit their web site at http://www.palosflowersandgiftbaskets.com/.

K.T. Mae’s looks closedK.T. Mae’s, a sports bar at 20535 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort, appears to be closed.
Owners of nearby businesses in the Vineyards of Frankfort Plaza say K.T. Mae’s shut its doors last week, and a local chamber official also told me the tavern was closed.

The business, which lists its opening time as 11 a.m., was dark and not open when visited in the late afternoon this week and its phone went unanswered.

The tavern’s web site, which was operational earlier this year, now says it is under construction. A spokeswoman for the Vineyards said K.T. Mae’s still has a live lease and is not closed.
Meijer to open next week

Michigan-based Meijer is expected to open its new Orland Park store at 7 a.m. Tuesday at 15701 S. 71st Court (the old Value City department store). The new store at 115,000 square feet is one of two smaller prototypes the chain is trying out in the Chicago market. Meijer will have a drive-through pharmacy, food, general merchandise and seasonal merchandise.

TJ Grinders closes
TJ Grinders, a sandwich shop that became an unwitting participant in a crime drama two years ago, closed recently at 12250 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights. The 17-year-old girl said she was kidnapped after closing the store. She later admitted to making up the story.

Watch World Cup for free
Soccer fans can watch the 2010 World Cup championship game between Spain and the Netherlands for free at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Holiday Star Theater, 340 Main St. in Park Forest. Seats are first come for 100 people. To make reservations, call the theater at 708-283-9098.

State Treasurer candidates to square off at chamber luncheon in Tinley Park

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy

State Treasurer hopefuls Democrat Robin Kelly and Republican Dan Rutherford will appear at a candidates forum in Tinley Park on Monday sponsored by the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce.

Kelly, a former state representative from Matteson, is chief of staff for Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who is seeking President Obama’s former Senate seat.

Rutherford is a state Senator from Pontiac.

The forum will take place during the chamber’s regional consensus luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Tinley Park Holiday Inn and Convention Center, 18501 S. Harlem Ave.

Reservations are $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. For more information, call 708-956-6950 or visit http://www.chicagosouthland.com/.