Justice Tobacco Mart to open July 1

Justice Tobacco Mart owner Moe Zeidn helps put up the sign on his new store.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Trustees in Justice voted this week to approve a new convenience store for 8400 S. Roberts Road.

 

Justice Tobacco Mart was granted a business license though its owners can't use the building's marquee sign until it's brought up to code.

Owner Moe Zeidn said the store would open on July 1.

Trustees earlier this year turned down plans for the same business.

"It was approved this time because they changed their business plan," said Village Clerk Kathy Svoboda. "They are now going to be more of a convenience store with a section for tobacco products instead of being only a tobacco store."

Svoboda said part of the delay in granting the license was the amount of work needed for the building.

"It took some time readying the property for occupancy," she said.

Trustees also approved a deal with Classic Truck & Trailer to accept a piece of the company's property at 8650 W. 82nd Place that was part of a local detention area.

"That way they don't have to pay taxes on a piece of property that they can't use," she said.

Qdoba to close Southland locations

The Qdoba Mexican Grill chain is closing both of its locations in the Southland on Friday as part of a 67-store closing the company is planning to help grow the brand and improve customer satisfaction.

The store at 5141 W. 95^th St. in Oak Lawn and in a LaGrange Road outlot at Orland Square Mall in Orland Park will both close by 3 p.m. The chain will also close 16 more stores in the Chicago area on Friday.

The chain, which is owned by Jack in the Box, will keep four Chicago-area locations open, at least for now, in Wheaton, Schaumburg, Lincoln Park and the Loop.

For a complete list of closing locations, visit Qdoba Closings.

The company said in a news release that despite the 67 closings it plans to open 70-75 new locations this year and 60-70 more next year.

Applebee’s shuts down complete

AppleIllinois LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April, this week completed the sale of 15 of its 33 Illinois Applebee’s restaurants and closed 18 others, including locations in Homewood, Mokena, Matteson and Tinley Park.

AppleIllinois sold the restaurants for $2.4 million to RMH Illinois LLC as part of an auction supervised by the U.S. bankruptcy court. 

Remaining open in the Chicago area are Applebee’s in Calumet City, Country Club Hills, Crestwood, Hodgkins, Evergreen Park, in Chicago at 7519 S. Cicero Ave. and 6656 Grand Ave., in Joliet at 2795 Plainfield Road and 2400 W. Jefferson. 

Other locations remaining open are in Bradley, DeKalb, Elgin, McHenry, Peru and Zion.

Applebee’s has 2,000 U.S. restaurants, of which all but two dozen are owned by independent business owners.

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.

Battery Giant opens in Orland Park

Brian Nolen II stands in his new Battery Giant store in Orland Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

A new business that promises to help power up your lives is now open in Orland Park.

Battery Giant, which carries everything from car batteries to hearing aid batteries, held its grand opening on June 22 at 15006 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park in the Orland Greens shopping center.

The franchise is located in an 810-square-foot shop co-owned by father and son, Brian Nolen Sr. and Brian Nolen II.

“We carry batteries for everything,” said the younger Nolen, who lives in Hazel Crest. “We also can rebuild battery packs for power tools, lanterns and laptops. That is very handy if you have an older model of a device. Some of them they don’t make battery packs for anymore. We can fix those.”

The Nolens can also order key fobs that have batteries sealed inside of them, such as for a car.

Battery Giant is a smaller player in the battery marketplace, admitted Nolen. Their chief rival is Batteries Plus, which has been around for much longer than Battery Giant.

“Battery Giant has been around for less than 10 years,” said Nolen. “My comparison is we’re Burger King to their being McDonald’s.”

The Nolens have the company’s 16^th store and the first in the Chicago Southland. There are two other stores in the north suburbs.

“For sure, we’re looking for another location in the south suburbs or northwest Indiana,” Nolen said. “But not until we get this one going good.”

Nolen said he and his father are equal partners and share all of the duties.

The store is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

For information, call the store at 708-460-4664.

Pepe’s reopens in Hickory Hills

A new Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant reopened recently at 8128 W. 95^th St. in Hickory Hills under new ownership.

The restaurant has a full bar with televisions and is open for lunch with a buffet served from Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Specials include half-price margaritas on Tuesday and Thursday, all you can eat tacos on Monday and kids eat free on Sunday.

For information, call 708-430-0700.

Giordano’s hosts Orland Business After Hours

Giordano’s of Orland Park is hosting a Business After Hours event for the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday at 14325 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park.

Giordano’s is sampling its new menu.

This will be the chamber’s last Business After Hours until September.

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

Dotty’s gaming cafes coming to Southland

Dotty's has signed leases in 13 communities including Oak Forest.

By Bob Bong 
Southland Savvy 

A Naperville-based chain of cafes has big plans for video gaming in Illinois.

Dotty’s, which got its start in 1992 in Nevada, has a unique approach to video gaming.

Dotty’s CEO Dan Fischer plans to open at least 150 “warm, cozy and inviting cafes” equipped with video gaming machines as opposed to dark bars that are the usual location for machines in Illinois.

“We cater to women,” he said. “They like to play at Dotty’s because of the atmosphere. It’s nothing like a regular bar.

“Our locations are small, about 1,500 square feet,” he said. “They will have liquor licenses but our emphasis will be more grandma’s kitchen than tavern.”

Fischer, who hails from Minnesota, last year moved his base of operations to Naperville from Las Vegas.

“I’m a Midwesterner,” he said.

So far, Dotty’s has 13 leases signed, including locations in Lemont, Crestwood, Midlothian, Worth, Oak Forest, Matteson, Alsip, Country Club Hills, Blue Island, Joliet, Dolton, Romeoville and Lyons.

“We’re negotiating another 75-80 leases,” he said. “I come in and tell the town fathers, ‘We don’t compete with any businesses in your town. We’re a new niche’.”

The first Dotty’s will open this summer, he said. “I’m guessing Lemont will be the first one to go live.”

Two towns that you won’t see on Dotty’s list are Orland Park and Tinley Park, which have both voted to keep out the gaming machines.

But that doesn’t deter Fischer.

“I believe that every town in Illinois will eventually break down and allow the machines,” he said. “When they do, I’ll be ready.”

Illness forces closing of Frankfort Meats

A recent stroke suffered by owner Tom Fetherling has led to the closing of Frankfort Meats and Deli in downtown Frankfort’s Trolley Barn.

The store, which has been providing meats for more than three decades, will close for the last time on Sunday.

"Thank you for all of your business & years of friendship," is part of the closing message written on a sign in front of the store. The sign also encourages customers to come in and leave contact information.

For information, call the store at 815-469-1145.

Sweet Annie’s reopens in Flossmoor

After some initial indecision on whether to move from Flossmoor to Homewood, Sweet Annie’s bakery stayed in town but moved into new and bigger quarters at 1050 Sterling Ave.

The bakery opened its door on June 11 less than two weeks after closing its original location that owner Anne Aboushouna opened five years ago.

The bakery now shares space with Drew’s Coffee, a coffee shop modeled on a French café.

Hours at the new location are from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Texas steakhouse opens in Oak Lawn

Texas Corral, a small steakhouse chain based in northwest Indiana and modeled on the honky tonk Western theme of the highly successful Texas Roadhouse chain of restaurants right down to the peanuts on the floor, held its soft opening this week in the former Leona’s restaurant at 6616 W. 95^th St. in Oak Lawn.

The Oak Lawn location is the ninth for the chain and its first in Illinois. There are six in Indiana, including its flagship location in Highland, and two in Michigan.

The steakhouse is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

This is the second go-round as a steakhouse for this location. The building was the home to Regency Steak House years ago.

For information, call 708-459-8761.

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 & Going.

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