Jet’s Pizza lands in Tinley Park

 

Jet's Pizza now open in Tinley Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Another national pizza chain opened a few weeks ago in Tinley Park when Jet’s Pizza landed at 17105 S. 88^th Avenue.

The Michigan-based chain, which proudly calls itself the 17^th largest pizza chain in the country, is in an expansion mode and the Tinley location is its first in the Southland.

Calls to the pizzeria’s general manager were not returned.

The eatery serves pizza, sub sandwiches and salads and its signature item is a deep dish square pizza.

The pizzeria opens early at 11 a.m. daily and is open until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

For information, call 708-263-0150 and check out some early reviews at Yelp.com.

FrancoNello’s now open for dinner

After months of delays, FrancoNello’s Italian Restaurant has finally reopened at 10222 S. Western Ave. in Beverly – though only from 4-10 p.m. for dinner right now.

The restaurant was gutted and rebuilt after a devastating Labor Day fire on Sept. 4, 2011.

Marty Joyce, from Ald. Matt  O’Shea’s office, said part of the lengthy rebuilding process was that owner Frank Ruffolo reconfigured the inside of the restaurant.

Joyce said the inside of the restaurant looks beautiful and the upstairs has been transformed into a nice banquet area.

Calls and emails to Ruffolo were not returned.

Plass Appliance to shut down

Family-owned Plass Appliances, which had already closed its Tinley Park, Oak Lawn, Bourbonnais and Burbank stores, has announced it will close its remaining five locations by the summer.

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 follow business happenings at Comings & Goings.

Caribou Coffee pulling out of Illinois

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Caribou Coffee Co. is closing or rebranding all of its 66 stores in Illinois as the company intends to focus on its home market in Minnesota.

This doesn’t mean much for the south suburbs seeing that Caribou effectively pulled out of the Southland last year when it abruptly closed its Tinley Park and Homewood locations.

The decision does affect a longtime store at 30 N. LaGrange Road in LaGrange, which will be closing on Sunday after 12 years, and a new store inside the Jewel-Osco store at 5545 S. Brainard in Countryside, which will also be closing Sunday after only recently opening.

The company had already scrapped plans to open coffee shops in remodeled J.C. Penney stores.

A few stores in the Chicago-market will be staying open after being converted into Peet’s Coffee & Tea shops.

Stores that are closing have started 50 percent off sales on merchandise such as coffee mugs. The stores will add coffee and other foodstuffs to the sale list and increase the sales price to 75 percent off on Friday as they attempt to sell off their inventory.

Caribou was acquired in December by a German private equity group for $340 million. The same group had earlier acquired Peet’s for $1 billion.

Just last year, Caribou had announced plans to expand in the Chicago market, which was its second largest market, and said it would be opening in select Jewel-Osco locations, including the one that just opened in Countryside.

Grand opening for Flip Flop Shop

Flip Flop Shop, which opened in July at Orland Square Mall, will hold its grand opening and ribbon cutting at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.

The store carries two dozen brands of flip flops, sandals and street shoes ranging from $22 to more than $100, said store manager Cathie Roth. 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 is the chain’s only location in Illinois.

For more information, visit Flip Flop Shops online or checkout its Facebook page.

Tinley Brew & Vine Festival is Saturday

The Tinley Park Chamber of Commerce annual Brew & Vine Festival will be from 3-10 p.m. Saturday at the Tinley Park Convention Center. Tickets are $25 if purchased by midnight April 10 and $30 at the door on Saturday.

Former White Sox great Frank Thomas will again be the festival’s special guest.

For information and to buy tickets, visit Brew & VineFestival online.

Sign company moves to Mokena

EZ Sign Co. recently moved from its longtime home in Oak Forest to new digs at 19125 S. 85^th Court in Mokena.

The company has been offering indoor and outdoor signs in the south suburbs since 1976.

For information, call the company at 815-469-4080.

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 follow business happenings at Comings & Goings.

Walt’s manager strongly denies Frankfort store closing rumor

A store manager strongly denied a rumor that Walt's was closing its Frankfort store.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

“That is a vicious rumor and totally untrue,” was the response from Tim, one of the managers at the Walt’s Food Center in Frankfort, when asked about a rumor making the rounds that the store at 20825 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort.

 

“I don’t know where it started but it spread like wildfire through the community,” he said. “I’ve had people coming in asking when we were going to close.

“We are not closing. Period,” he said. “We’ve just finished making improvements at the store. Why would we do that if we were going to close?”

A call to Walt’s corporate offices in South Holland was not returned.

The rumor was probably tied to the recent opening of Mariano’s Fresh Market a couple of blocks to the north of Walt’s. There are now six grocery stores or supermarkets on LaGrange Road in Frankfort and Mokena between U.S. 30 and Interstate 80.

The King retreats from Orland

Burger King closed its doors recently at 14601 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park. You can still get your Whopper fix at the fast-food chain’s location on 159^th Street near 94^th Avenue in Orland Hills.

New owners for River Oaks Toyota

New management was introduced last month at River Oaks Toyota in Calumet City, which was purchased over the Christmas holiday and remodeled.

Fernando Falcon is the new president and CEO.

Ed & Joe’s offers reward for voting

Ed & Joe’s restaurant in Tinley Park has a sweet deal for anyone who casts a ballot at Tuesday’s consolidated election.

The pizzeria will give a free appetizer worth up to $7.95 to anyone who brings in their voter receipt on April 9.

New life for gas station

The gas station at 11458 S. Harlem Ave. in Worth may be coming back to life. JTL Group Inc. has taken out a $400,000 mortgage on the property from U.S. Venture Inc.

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 follow business happenings at Comings & Goings.