Hawk Chevy building a new showroom

Hawk Chevrolet in Bridgeview is open while the dealership expands its showroom.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Hawk Chevrolet, which took over the Rizza dealership on Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview a couple of years ago, has started work on major renovations.

Hawk is building a new showroom and a new service lane, which will take about six months to complete.

The dealer will remain open during construction and has opened a temporary showroom on the lot at 8200 S. Harlem Ave. in Bridgeview.

Chick-fil-A now open in Chicago Ridge

Oak Lawn area fans of the chicken sandwiches at Chick-fil-A won't have to travel to Lombard or Orland Park now that the fifth Chicago-area location of the Georgia-based fast food chain has opened in an outlot at Chicago Ridge Mall at 96th Street and Ridgeland in Chicago Ridge.

The restaurant opened last week and gave out free food for a year to the first 100 fans who camped out in the parking lot at the shopping mall, which is a tradition for the chain that began in 1946 and found its niche in the early 1960s as a staple at Southern shopping malls.

The Chicago Ridge location is owned by Peter Glanville, who hails from South Africa and has been in the United States for about 16 years.

"I love the hustle and bustle of this area," he said. "It's a great business center with remarkable demographics. Where else could you be in a traffic jam at 9 in the morning."

Glanville said the area reminds him of South Africa.

"It's not quite downtown and it's not quite suburban," he said. "It's kind of in between and I find that interesting."

Glanville said his goal was to eventually have his wife and sons work at the business with him.

The restaurant will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. It will be closed on Sundays.

Homewood Super Kmart closing 

Kmart has announced it will be closing its superstore at 17550 Halsted St. in Homewood by Christmas.

The store has about 185 employees and Kmart said they would have the opportunity to apply for positions at other Kmart and Sears stores.

A store liquidation sale began this week.

The store was among a handful of south suburban Super Kmarts that were reported to be for sale or that were looking for store-within-a-store retail partners back in April. Other stores were in Lansing, New Lenox and Tinley Park.

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.

Texas Roadhouse to open latest location Monday in Countryside

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Louisville-based Texas Roadhouse will officially open at 4 p.m. Monday at 9960 Joliet Road in Countryside, but the steakhouse will play host to veterans and Special Olympians over the weekend as its works out the kinks for its cooks, meat cutters and other kitchen staff.

 “We have so many veterans in our family, including my wife,” said Eric Stewart, managing partner in a release. “We are passionate about giving back to the women and men who have served our country. We’re also proud to support Special Olympics here locally and can’t imagine a better way to celebrate our opening than by helping these two organizations that serve so many families across this community.”

In addition to rolling out the carpet for local organizations, the restaurant will donate food from this weekend's invitation-only events to Countryside police and firefighters.

The restaurant, which is bringing 200 new jobs to the area, will be open from 4-10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, from 4-11 p.m. Friday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

The steakhouse chain, which started in 1993, has more than 395 locations in 48 states.

For more information, call 708-482-7870 or visit Texas Roadhouse.

Zombie Safari opens in Tinley Park

Zombies are back on the attack in Tinley Park at Odyssey Fun Farm at 19111 S. OK Park Ave., across the street from Odyssey Fun World arcade.

The Zombie Safari Hayride runs from 7-midnight on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (no Sundays in September) after the much more kid friendly Fun Farm shuts down at 6 p.m.

For $20, you are driven into a 15-acre maze and then attacked by zombies. You fight back with paintball guns mounted on the sides of the hayride truck. You start out with 100 paintballs but can buy more ammo if you are particularly trigger happy.

“We have a lot of cool stuff going on at night this year,” said Clint Paraday, general manager of the arcade and Fun Farm, which offered the Zombie Safari for the first time last Halloween.

The safari lasts for about 15 minutes, Paraday said.

The Fun Farm has been offered for three years now and features a 15-acre pumpkin patch, 15-acre maze, corn cannon, zip line and a corn crib that holds upward of 15 tons of corn.

The Fun Farm will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Sept. 28 to Oct. 27. General admission is $11 with additional costs for the zip line and pony rides. 

For information, visit Odyssey Fun Farm.

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.

Halloween pop-up stores return

Yankee Bill's Costume Superstore opened recently at 159th Street and Harlem Avenue in Orland Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Pop-up Halloween shops have risen like zombies across the Southland to fill empty storefronts that help us celebrate the season of the witch in the style to which we have become accustomed.

One newcomer to the Halloween scene this year is a store that hails from the Northeast called Yankee Bill’s Costume Superstore at 15818 S. Harlem Ave. in the Home Depot Center in Orland Park. Hours there are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday thru Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

One familiar face, Spirit Halloween, has the most shops in the south suburbs this year as the improving economy has claimed many of the storefronts that were used by these pop-up shops for Halloweens past.

Spirit, which carries an assortment of costumes, masks, fake blood and animatronic ghosts, witches and vampires, is already open at 5849 W. 95^th St. in Oak Lawn, 14726 S. Cicero Ave. in Mid-Oak Plaza in Midlothian, 15846 S. LaGrange Road in Lakeview Plaza in Orland Park, 19933 S. LaGrange Road in Hickory Creek Marketplace in Frankfort and 12700 Illinois 59 in Kensington Center in Plainfield. Hours for all of the stores is 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday thru Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The retailer also has a smaller Gallery store that only carries costumes and accessories open at 16521 W. 159^th St. in Lockport. An additional Gallery store is coming soon to 410 Nelson Road in the Nelson Plaza in New Lenox.

Halloween City has only one Southland location this year at 1 Orland Park Place at Orland Park Place mall in Orland Park.  Hours are noon to 8 p.m. Monday thru Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Lyons Middle Eastern restaurant opening 2nd location

Falafelji, a Middle Eastern restaurant that opened less than a year ago at 3910 S. Harlem Ave. in Lyons, is preparing to open a second location at 13 S. LaGrange Road in LaGrange, in the former location of the Back Alley Burger.

Owner Bilal Beiram, who moved to the United States from Jordan 25 years ago, said the LaGrange location should be open by October. Hours will be from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays. 

Falafelji features falafels, hummus, shawerma, kabobs, sandwiches and more. 

For information, call 708-447-4757 or visit their website at www.myfalafelji.com.

Jasmine Fashion opens in Palos Hills

Jasmine Fashion opened recently at 10418 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Hills in part of the space formerly used by Shefoun Fashion, which moved some months ago into a building at 11220 S. Harlem Ave. in Worth.

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 business news in other parts of the Southland at Comings & Goings.