Mayan Palace replaces La Mex in Orland

Mayan Palace opened recently in the former La Mex location on 159th Street in Orland Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

La Mex restaurant in Orland Park’s Seville Plaza recently changed ownership and its name to Mayan Palace.

New owner Rudy Delarosa also owns the original Mayan Palace at 2703 S. Halsted St. in Chicago.

Delarosa purchased the 8600 W. 159^th St. location a few months ago from his nephew, who still owns La Mex locations in Morris and Joliet.

A manager at the Orland location said Delarosa has been involved at the restaurant for about a year but recently acquired the location and made the name change about three weeks ago after making some minor adjustments to the menu.

A manager at the Halsted Street location said the new restaurant features most of the same menu items but they are prepared differently.

“There is new management, a new kitchen and better food,” the manager said.

Hours under Mayan Palace will be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

For information, call 708-349-8339.

Riley’s Trick Shop has new home

Riley’s Trick Shop, which sold costumes, gag gifts and magic tricks for 40 years at 6442 W. 111^th St. in Worth opened in its new, smaller home in Palos Hills earlier this month.

The new location at 8086 W. 111^th St. is in a strip center near Stagg High School and Sacred Heart Church and has been renamed Riley’s Tricks & Gifts. It opened on Oct. 5.

The store, which was founded in 1937 by current owner Jim Riley’s father, has moved twice since it was founded.  

There was also a second store in Frankfort from 2007 to 2010 that was operated by Riley’s daughter.

The family-owned store is getting out of the costume business and is offering some for as low as $10 and some are buy one, get one free, according to its Facebook page.

Hours at the new location are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

For information, call 800-474-5397 or visit their website at Riley's Trick Shop. 

Title Max opens second Orland location

Title Max, one of those companies that provides loans to people who use their car title as collateral, has opened a second Orland Park location at 9400 W. 159^th St., next door to the new Pop’s Italian Beef restaurant.

For information, call 708-403-2855.

Sleepy’s opens in Orland Park

Sleepy's, a New York-based company that calls itself the world's largest mattress retailer and which is in the midst of a major expansion into the Chicago marketplace in general and the south suburban marketplace in particular, has opened a new store at 15840 S. Harlem Ave. in Orland Park.

The Hicksville-based company, which has more than 800 showrooms in 14 Eastern and mid-Atlantic states and carries a wide selection of mattress brands, opened its first Chicago-area store at the end of June in Evergreen Park and has since opened additional stores at 11043 W. Lincoln Highway in Frankfort's Prairie Crossing shopping center, and at Ford City shopping center at 71st Street and Cicero Avenue in Chicago.

The chain also is preparing to open a store in The Landing shopping center at 16821 S. Torrence Ave. in Lansing.

The company, which got its start in 1931 in Brooklyn, did not respond to numerous calls and emails asking about its plans.

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.

Pop's Italian Beef opens in Orland Park

Pop's Italian Beef opened a new store last month in Orland Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

A new Pop's Italian Beef & Sausage shop has finally opened at 9400 W. 159th St. in Orland Park.

The fast-foot restaurant is the second in Orland Park and both are owned by the Motto brothers, who also own Pop's franchises at 14279 S. Wolf Road in Orland Park, 16600 W. 159th St. in Lockport, 11336 Lincoln Highway in Mokena, Romeoville and Elmhurst.

The restaurant opened in late September in a 5,000-square-foot building that was built on the former site of a Mobil gas station.

The restaurant is owned and operated by brothers Mike, Mark and Matt Motto.

Pop's was founded in 1980 in Palos Heights by Frank Radochonski. The new Orland location was the 13th store for the chain, which has just opened its 14th store in Joliet.

The restaurant is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. For information, call 708-460-3000 or visit Pop's Beef.

Carson's Clearance Center to open in Lansing

Carson's will open a Store Clearance Center on Saturday at The Landings Shopping Center at 167th Street and Torrence Avenue in Lansing.

The opening comes several months after Carson's parent Bon-Ton Stores Inc. announced it was closing the Carson's anchor store at the nearby River Oaks Center in Calumet City. That store closed earlier this year after being an anchor at the mall since it opened in the mid-1960s.

"We are pleased to announce the opening of our free-standing clearance center in the Lansing area," said Bon-Ton Stores president and CEO Brendan Hoffman. "The store will feature a wide assortment of clearance merchandise from women's, men's and children's apparel, shoes, handbags and home items, all offered at terrific values. We believe consumers in the area will appreciate this new addition to the Carson's shopping experience." 

A Sleepy's mattress store is also coming to The Landings in one of the outlot locations at 16821 S. Torrence Ave.

Sleepy's, a New York-based company that calls itself the world's largest mattress retailer, is in the midst of a major expansion into the Chicago marketplace in general and the south suburban marketplace in particular.

The Hicksville-based company, which has more than 800 showrooms in 14 Eastern and mid-Atlantic states and carries a wide selection of mattress brands, opened its first Chicago-area store at the end of June in Evergreen Park.

Since then the chain has also opened a dozen stores including one at 11043 W. Lincoln Highway in Frankfort's Prairie Crossing shopping center, at Ford City shopping center at 71st Street and Cicero Avenue in Chicago and 15840 S. Harlem Ave. in Orland Park.

The company, which got its start in 1931 in Brooklyn, did not respond to numerous calls and emails asking about its plans.

Tilles going out of business

Tilles Interiors, which was founded by Sam and Belle Tilles in 1940, is holding a going out of business sale at 901 Ridge Road in Munster in northwest Indiana.

 Current owners Robin and Andy Jost started their liquidation sale earlier this month. They said they had made the "difficult decision to close our store and go out of business" in a message on the company's website.

The store will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday as long as the sale lasts.

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.

Ross Dress for Less to open Saturday in Tinley Park, Evergreen Park

Ross Dress for Less will open stores Saturday in Tinley Park and Evergreen Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

California-based off-price retailer Ross Dress for Less will open 24 new stores nationwide on Saturday including locations in Tinley Park and Evergreen Park.

The Tinley Park store will open at 7290 W. 191st St. in the Brookside Marketplace while the Evergreen Park site will open at 9142 S. Western Ave. in the same plaza as Menards on the former grounds of the Evergreen Country Club.

The two stores will be the fifth and sixth Ross locations in the Southland. The retailer entered the Chicago market a couple of years ago when it opened stores in Orland Park and Matteson. It has since opened a store in Calumet City. Also opening Saturday will be Ross stores in Vernon Hills and Schaumburg.

The new stores will bring the total Ross Dress for Less locations to 31 in Chicagoland.

Ross stores typically carry brand name apparel and home goods products priced 20 percent to 60 percent less than at department and specialty stores.

The chain has more than 1,000 stores in 27 states. Each store employs about 50 associates.

Both new stores will open at 9 a.m. Saturday. Each store is offering shoppers a chance to win a $500 shopping spree or one of five $100 shopping sprees.

Store hours will be Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

For information about Ross, visit Ross Dress for Less  or check out their Facebook page.

Dominick's stores to close

California-based Safeway Inc. announced Thursday that it would close or sell all 72 Dominick's Finer Foods stores in the Chicago area and exit the Chicago marketplace.

The company then announced it had already sold four stores to the new parent of Jewel-Osco including one at 14200 S. Bell Road in Homer Glen.

Other Dominick's slated to close in the Southland include locations in Frankfort, Matteson, Palos Heights, Merrionette Park and Countryside.

Companies reportedly interested in acquiring some of the Dominick's stores include Butera Market, Pete's Fresh Market, Strack & Van Til and Angela Caputo's Fresh Markets.

Pete's has already acquired and transformed former Dominick's stores in Calumet City and in Chicago's East Side neighborhood, and Strack converted a former Dominick's in Crestwood, so those companies have a history with Dominick's.

Safeway said it wanted to be out of the Chicago marketplace  by early in 2014.

The chain, founded in Chicago in 1918, was purchased by Safeway for $1.8 billion in 1998. It has seen its share of the Chicago market shrink from about 33 percent to 9 percent.

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.