New Sugar-Free Bakery to Open Saturday in Mokena

Richard and Marie Martinez are opening a sugar-free baker in Mokena on Saturday.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Sugarless World Bakery, a new bakery that specializes in sugar-free pastries and desserts, will hold its grand opening at 6 a.m. tomorrow at 19458 S. LaGrange Road in Mokena.

Owner Marie Martinez said the first 50 people through the doors tomorrow will each get a special treat.

Martinez, who is opening the business with her father, Richard Martinez, said the shop is catering to diabetics, senior citizens and anyone who is conscious about how much sugar is in their diet.

Sugarless World Bakery will initially be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and closed on Sundays.

“We will be closed on Sundays for at least the first couple of months,” Martinez said. “After that we may add some Sunday hours.”

For information, call Sugarless World Bakery at 708-995-5923 or visit their Facebook page.

Wendy’s Opens in Orland
A new Wendy’s restaurant has opened in the former Boston Market at 7360 W. 159th St. in Orland Park. It is the second Wendy’s in Orland Park and is around the corner from the site of a Wendy’s that was closed years ago and converted into a bank. The phone number is (708) 444-0565.

Pompei Pizza Open in Riviera Country Club
A grand opening is scheduled for Monday for the new Pompei Pizza at the Riviera Country Club and Sports Center at 8801 W. 143rd St. in Orland Park. For information, call 708-349-1100.

New Pharmacy Opens in Lansing
Quik Scripts held its grand opening today at 3330 Ridge Road in Lansing. The business promises to offer old fashioned prescription service including free delivery to your home or office. For information, call 708-474-9540 and ask for Dave the Pharmacist.

Free Gyros on Tuesday
Our deal of the week comes from Kronos, the purveyor of meat and other foods to many Greek restaurants in the Southland, which is again offering free gyros on Tuesday, Aug. 30, from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. You have to download a coupon and indicate the restaurant you will be visiting for your free sandwich.

Participating restaurants can be for at the Kronos website but they include Antoni’s in Lockport, Baby’s Steak & Lemonade in Orland Park and Joliet, Cyprus in Tinley Park, Goody’s & Gyros in Homer Glen, Johnny’s Wee-Nee Wagon in Markham, Nick’s BBQ in Palos Heights, Burbank, Homer Glen, Romeoville and Tinley Park, and Pop’s in Lockport, Crown Point, Dyer, Tinley Park, Romeoville, Orland Park, Mokena, Homewood and Palos Heights.

Warm Reception for Five Below in Tinley Park

Becky Harrison and her daughter Brianna at the new Five Below store in Tinley Park.

Margaret DeRe and her daughter Catharine shop at the new Five Below store.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Area moms and daughters welcomed the new Five Below discount store to Tinley Park with open arms on Friday at Brookside Marketplace at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue.

“I’m a little excited,” said Catharine DeRe, 11, of Mokena, while shopping with her Mom, Margaret, a couple of hours after the store opened. “I like it.”

Mom was excited about the prices at the store that caters to teens and pre-teens, “A backpack and T-shirts for $5, that’s a great price. And it’s a fun atmosphere.”

“I love it,” said Becky Harrison, of Tinley Park, who was doing back-to-school shopping with her daughter Brianna, 10.

“There’s something for everyone, and they have great prices,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for this store to open after I went a couple of times to the store in Orland Hills.”

“We’ve had a steady stream of customers,” said Sandy, the store manager, who added the store has about 25 employees.

An employee on loan for a few days from a store in New Jersey said the Tinley Park store was just over 7,500 square feet. “All of the stores are about that size,” he said.

Another employee who was handing out free T-shirts to customers said she had already given away more than 300 in the first two hours the store was open.

Five Below is the first of three new stores coming to Brookside Marketplace. A HomeGoods store is set to open next month and is hiring for the Tinley Park store, and work is under way on an Old Navy store, but no opening date has been set yet for that site.

Parmida Opens at Orland Park Crossing
Parmida Home Store held a grand opening recently for its eighth store at 14225 S. 95th Avenue at Orland Park Crossing in Orland Park.

The store, which specializes in home living and entertainment merchandise, is the chain’s second store in Illinois.

Store manager is longtime Orland Park resident Monica Rose.

For information, call 708-226-6680.

New Home for Pedigree Junction
Pedigree Junction, a dog and cat grooming spa, moved recently from one strip center to an adjoining one at 7659 W. St. Francis Road in Frankfort Square in the former Susan's Accessories store. The hours remain the same as does the phone number 815-464-4404.

Five Below to Open In Tinley on Friday

Five Below will open at 9:30 a.m. Friday at 191st and Harlem in Tinley Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Five Below will open at 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park.

Five Below, a national discount retailer that caters to teens and tweens, will open five new stores in the Chicago area at 9:30 a.m. on Friday including one in the Brookside Marketplace at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park.

Store hours will be 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Each day during opening weekend, the stores will be giving away free Five Below T-shirts with any purchase to the first 300 customers. The stores will also offer 5-cent hot dogs, and other giveaways including a $100 Five Below shopping spree. In addition, Benny the Bull from the Chicago Bulls, Southpaw from the Chicago White Sox, and Staley Da Bear from the Chicago Bears will make special appearances at the stores throughout the weekend.

The new store is part of an expansion of the mall between Kohl's and Dick's Sporting Goods. Also opening soon will be an Old Navy and HomeGoods stores.

The opening is part of a surge of Five Below stores into the Chicago market. A store opened earlier this year at 94th Avenue and 159th Street in Orland Hills.

Other stores opening Friday include Woodfield Village Green, 1465 East Golf Road in Schaumburg; Woodgrove Festival, 1001 W. 75th St., Suite 171 in Woodbridge; Oakridge Court, 802 Randall Road in Algonquin; and North Riverside Mall, 7501 W. Cermak St. in North Riverside.

A sixth location, in Kennedy Plaza in Chicago, will open this fall, bringing the total number of Five Below stores in the Chicago market to 16.

“We took Chicago by storm this year,” says David Schlessinger, co-founder of Five Below, in a news release. “Never before have we opened so many stores in one region in such a short period of time. In 2012, we’re going to continue to penetrate the marketplace, and give even more Chicago customers access to our product offerings.”

The opening of these stores is part of a rapid growth initiative that will see Five Below open 50 new stores in 2011, increasing its total number of stores to just under 200 by year-end.

Zante Lounge Holds Anniversary Party
Zante Lounge will celebrate its second anniversary at 8888 W. 159th St. in Orland Hills with a party starting at 3 p.m. Sunday featuring the music of Maggie Speaks, a $1,000 bean bag tournament, a free pig roast, a dunk tank, burger eating contest and a chance to win a 9-day trip to Jamaica. For information, call 708-364-0100.