LBK Boutique Opens in Tinley Park

Lisa Kopas opened LBK Boutique last month in Tinley Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

If Lisa Kopas had not started selling wedding accessories online in 2005 the Tinley resident would never have dreamed of opening her own store, LBK Boutique at 7913 W. 171^st St. in the Tinley Downs Shopping Center.

“I would never have done it without having the online store,” she said. “But I was successful online and was determined to try and do this myself.”

Kopas decided to open the brick and mortar version of LBK Boutique after she lost her job as a controller at a power plant in Ford Heights when it closed.

Kopas, 45, opened the store last month and said business was great until a road and sewer construction project started at the intersection of 171^st and 80^th Avenue.

“Business has been half of what it was,” she said.

“We sell accessories and gifts for all occasions,” she said. “We have lots of wedding and bridal accessories.”

Store hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store is closed on Sunday.

For information, call 708-468-8649 or visit LBK Boutique online, or its Facebook page, or its ebay store.

Rosati’s Opens in New Lenox

Rosati’s Pizza of New Lenox opened earlier this month at 108 W. Illinois Highway in New Lenox in the former home of Lazy Dogz Burgers and Beef. The location offers carry out and delivery to New Lenox, Joliet, Mokena and Manhattan.

For information, call 815-485-1000 or visit Rosati’s of NewLenox.

Middle Eastern Bakery Opens

Almasi Bakery, which specializes in Middle Eastern baked goods, opened recently at 17845 S. Wolf Road in Orland Park. For information, call 708-478-5535.

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 at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

Chicago Blu closes in Frankfort

Chicago Blu closed last week in Frankfort.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Chicago Blu Grill and Bar closed suddenly last weekend at 19917 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort.

The restaurant opened in 2006 and was acquired by new owners Jay Rodriguez, Lisa Corona, and Scott and Rachel Zdanek in August 2010.

The company posted this note about the closing on its Facebook page on Oct. 14: 

"We regret to inform that we have given our final Last Call yesterday. Many thanks to our dedicated staff and to our loyal customers. It's been a wonderful experience."

A note on the front door and front window simply says, "Closed. Out of Business."

The website has been taken down and its phone number has been disconnected. 

Custom Shirts Shop Now Open 

Customized Teez, a shop that can customize T-shirts, hoodies and even decals for cars, is now open at Ford City Shopping Center, 7601 S. Cicero Ave. The store is open during mall hours. For information, call 773-884-0337 or visit their Facebookpage. 

Graystone Closes Forever 

Tinley Park’s golf scene dimmed a bit with the recent closing of Graystone Golf Links at 7600 W. 171^st St. 

The course’s future will remain green but as a sod farm instead of 9-hole golf course. 

Owners of the course decided earlier this year to close the course at the end of this year’s season. They will operate a sod farm on the property while they continue to try and develop the site into a business park.

The course’s golf carts, trucks and other equipment hit the auction block last Friday. 

McDonald's Reopens 

A newly remodeled McDonald's restaurant has reopened at 515 Ridge Road in Munster, Ind. The fast-food restaurant had closed in June for the remodeling.

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 at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

Harold's Chicken to Replace Fatburger

Harold's Chicken Shack is coming to the former Fatburger
in Chicago's Beverly community.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Singer Kanye West’s failed Fatburger empire was replaced in Orland Park by a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant earlier this year and looks to soon be replaced in Beverly by another Harold’s Chicken Shack restaurant. 

The Homewood-based Harold’s has signs proclaiming a new location is coming soon to 2341 W. 95^th St. in the Beverly community.  

A call to Harold’s corporate office in Homewood was not returned.

Family Dollar Coming to Tinley 

A 9,000-square-foot Family Dollar store is being built in part of the former Walgreens drugstore on the corner of the Tinley Downs strip center at 171st Street and 80th Avenue in Tinley Park. The store is slated to open later this year. 

Love Culture Opens in Orland 

Love Culture, a women’s fashion and accessories store, is now open in the former Bath & Body Works location in the upper level Sears Court at Orland Square Mall in Orland Park. The store had been expected to open in August. For information, visit Love Culture online. 

The mall also announced that the Island Carousel, which had been removed during remodeling, is now back in its rightful place in the lower level J.C. Penney Court. 

Hannah & Harry's Closes 

Just a few months after it was reopened under the new name of Hannah & Harry's Restaurant, the former Hannah's restaurant in New Buffalo, Mich., is shuttered again.

The restaurant, which had closed in the summer of 2009, had reopened in June across the Indiana state line in New Buffalo.

The restaurant closed earlier this month and is for sale by its consortium of owners, one of whom wants to reopen the establishment with new partners.

 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 at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.