Flip Flop Shop Opens in Orland Park

The first Flip Flop Shop in Illinois opened last month at Orland Square Mall. -- Orland Square Mall photo

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Orland Park is now home to the first Flip Flop Shop in Illinois, which opened July 20 at Orland Square Mall.

These aren’t the inexpensive, rubbery kind of flip flops you may be accustomed to, said store manager Cathie Roth, who lives in a nearby suburb.

The store carries two dozen brands of flip flops, sandals and street shoes ranging from $22 to more than $100, she said. Top selling brands include Sanuk, Cobian, OluKai and Reef.

“We have brands that no one else in the mall has,” said Roth adding there are plenty of them. “I have more than 1,000 pairs of sandals on the wall.”

The store offers child and adult sizes. “We carry men’s sandals up to size 14 and can order larger sizes.”

She said the company recently outfitted the Los Angeles Lakers in flip flops.

“People have been really, really excited to see us open,” she said. “Maybe they saw one of our stores in an airport somewhere and were hoping we’d come to the Midwest. Now we have.”

What about Chicago’s infamous winters?

“We may carry boots,” Roth said. “But we’re here for someone looking for sandals when they are heading to Florida on vacation in November or December.”

Roth said the store will have regular promotions, such as buy one pair and get a free T-shirt.

She said the store is franchised and has five part-time team members.

For more information, visit Flip Flop Shops Chicago on Facebook.

Work Under Way at Planet Fitness

Work has finally started on the Planet Fitness center at 9503 S. Cicero Ave. in the Green Oak Shopping Center.

“They started working on it a few weeks ago, and workers are in there every day now,” said Steve Kant, vice president of Robin Realty, the company that owns and manages the mall.

Kant said he didn’t know when the 17,400-square-foot fitness center would be opening.

An email to the marketing department at Planet Fitness was not answered.

Planet Fitness operates more than 500 fitness centers in 46 states and the vast majority of them are franchised operations.

The chain, which prides itself for being a Judgment Free Zone and holds monthly pizza nights and gives away 

Tootsie Rolls to clients, seems to be in an expansion mode in Illinois. New locations recently opened in Champaign, Montgomery and at 4327 S. Pulaski Road in Chicago.

For information, visit Planet Fitness online or on Facebook.

Evergreen Chamber Hosts Golf Outing

The Evergreen Park Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual golf outing and barbecue lunch at noon on Friday, Aug. 3, at Fountain Hills Golf Course in Alsip. Registration starts at noon with a 1 p.m. shotgun start.  For information, call the chamber at 708-423-1118 or Outing Chairman Tom Ollenburger at 708-424-7850.

Mokena Hearing Center Grand Opening

Mokena Hearing Center, 11041 Front St., will celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon cutting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Parcels Express Opens in Alsip

Parcels Express has opened a newer, larger store at 12005 S. Pulaski Road in Alsip. The new location has gifts, cards and Yankee Candles in addition to 24-hour access post office boxes. For information, call 708-388-3800.

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 catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

Radio Shack to Reopen in Oak Lawn

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy 

Radio Shack plans to reopen in downtown Oak Lawn in the first week of August after being closed for more than 18 months since it was knocked out of action by a horrendous fire on Nov. 17, 2010.

“It was always our intention to rebuild and get that store open again,” said Radio Shack south suburban district manager Reggie Weekly.

Weekly said the retailer is shooting for an opening date of Aug. 4. He said the company is planning some grand opening events.

“It’s going to be a good location again,” said Weekly. “We had a lot of loyal customers at that store. I think a lot of residents will be happy to see us return.”

The store at 4819 W. 95^th St. suffered serious smoke and structural damage in the fire that also devastated Eva’s Bridals, Mattress Express, Chiro-Med and Miss Fantasia Boutique.

Weekly said the retailer had to wait for insurance issues to be settled and the landlord to give his OK before they could start rebuilding the store.

“Once we got the OK, everything came together quickly,” he said.

The new store will be the same size and layout as the previous store. It will have two full-time managers and four or five part-time associates, said Weekly. Applications are being taken at www.radioshack.com.

The store’s summer hours will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the rest of the year.

Victoria’s Secret to Reopen After Remodeling

Victoria’s Secret/PINK, the women’s lingerie store that has been closed for remodeling, will reopen today at Chicago Ridge Mall.

Former Bank Purchased

A group called Sass Orland LLC has purchased the former Amcore Bank building at 16057 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park for $810,000. If anyone knows what’s planned for the 5,928-square-foot free-standing building, please let me know.

Quick Mart Opens in Flossmoor

A Quick Mart convenience store opened earlier this month at 2747 Flossmoor Road in Flossmoor. It is the second location for owners Mike Amawi and Moe Omari.

Ridgeway Chevy 16^th Annual Car Show and Sock Hop

Ridgeway Chevrolet, 17730 S. Torrence Ave. in Lansing, is hosting its 16^th annual Car and Truck Show and Sock Hop from 5-10 p.m. on Saturday. Vehicle registration starts at 4 p.m.

There will be hot dogs and root beer, dash plaques, goodie bags, trophies and a Hula Hoop contest.

Guests are asked to bring a can of soup for the Lansing Food Pantry.

For information, call 708-474-3563.

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 catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

Athletes and sports are the stars in films about Olympics

British athletes train on the beach for the 1924 Games in the opening scene from "Chariots of Fire."

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Few sporting events capture the world’s attention as do the Olympics, and few have its international flavor.

That makes sense considering 10,490 athletes from 204 countries are expected to compete in 26 sports for a chance to win one of 302 medals that will be given out at the London Games, which kick off Friday.

London is the first city to host the Games three times since they were revived in 1896. The British capital hosted the Games in 1908 and again in 1948.

Although the Olympics have not inspired filmmakers the way sports such as baseball or football have, there have been plenty of movies made about the Games and the athletes.

Cary Grant stars in “Walk, Don’t Run,” about a race walker at the Tokyo Games in 1964. “Wee Geordie” is about an undersized Scottish athlete training for the hammer throw at the 1956 Games in Melbourne. “It Happened in Athens” is a film about the effort to bring back the Olympics.

Many movies have focused on individual athletes and their lives or accomplishments. “The Bob Mathias Story” was a bio-pic about the 1948 and 1952 decathlon champ. He starred as himself. “Berlin 36” is a film about Gretel Bergmann, a female Jewish German athlete trying to compete in the 1936 Games in Berlin. “Forever the Moment” is a film about the South Korean women’s handball team that lost to Denmark in a shootout at the 2004 Games in Seoul.

Some movies about the Olympics are just plain silly or stupid. Chinese detective Charlie Chan uncovers a spy ring in Berlin while watching No. 1 son compete in the 1936 Games in “Charlie Chan at the Olympics.” Susan Anton is the daughter of an ex-Nazi scientist who has been pumping her full of secret drugs to make her an Olympic hero in “Goldengirl.” Dolph Lundgren portrays an American penthathlete who foils bad guys at both the 1992 and 1996 Games.

Here are six films about the Summer Olympics available on video, DVD, on demand and streaming that can get your juices flowing until the real Games start on Friday, or that can get you through the lean days of canoe slalom and synchronized swimming over the next two weeks.

Chariots of Fire (1981) – This is an epic film about two British track stars – one a Jew and the other a devout Christian – who take different paths to the 1924 Games in Paris. Stars include Ben Cross as Harold Abrahams, Ian Charleson as Eric Liddel, Ian Holm, Alice Krige and John Gielgud.

Running Brave (1983) – A heartwarming film about the shocking upset by U.S. Marine Billy Mills in the 10,000 meters race at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. Robbie Benson stars as Mills, a Sioux who must fight prejudice and his own coach to be a champion. Other stars include Pat Hingle, Graham Greene and Claudia Cron.

Without Limits (1998) – Billy Crudup stars as the University of Oregon track star in this film that traces his life leading up to the 1972 Games in Munich and his untimely death in 1975 at age 24 in a car crash. Other stars include Donald Sutherland as his college coach Bill Bowerman, Monica Potter and Jeremy Sisto. “Prefontaine” is another bio-pic starring Jared Leto as the runner.

Personal Best (1982) – Mariel Hemmingway stars as a talented but naïve pentathlete in this film about two young women fighting for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team leading up to the 1980 Games in Moscow. Complicating matters is that both her teammate and coach fall in love with her. Other stars include real-life pentathlete Patrice Donnelly and Scott Glenn.

The Jesse Owens Story (1984) – Dorian Harewood stars as the African-American athlete who demolished Hitler’s notion of Aryan superiority with a string of track victories at the 1936 Games in Berlin. Other stars include Levar Burton, Tom Bosley, Georg Stanford Brown and Norman Fell.

Jim Thorpe – All American (1951) – Burt Lancaster stars in this bio-pic of Native American athlete Jim Thorpe, who won both the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Games in Sweden and then had his medals stripped when he was discovered to have played semi-pro baseball. Thorpe is considered one of the greatest athletes of the 20^th century. He went on to play college and pro football as well as pro baseball and basketball. In 1983, the International Olympic Committee restored his Olympic medals. Other stars include Charles Bickford as Pop Warner, Steve Cochrane and Phyllis Thaxter.

For more on movies, visit What to Watch.