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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Cycle Gear store for motorcyclists to open Friday in Tinley Park

Cycle Gear will open its 99th store on Friday in Tinley Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Cycle Gear, a national retailer of motorcycle apparel and accessories, will open its second store in the Chicago area at 10 a.m. Friday at 6905 W. 159^th St. in Tinley Park. The grand opening will be June 28-30.

It will be the second Midwestern location for the retailer, which opened in 1974 and is based in Benicia, Calif., near San Francisco.

“We opened the first Midwestern store in November in Schaumburg,” said Johnny Lin, chief marketing officer. “We wanted to make sure we could sell motorcycle accessories in the winter in Chicago. Our biggest fear was that sales would disappear in the winter months. That didn’t happen.”

Lin said the Tinley store would be about 3,500 square feet, about average for a regular store. The company has some superstores that range from 15,000 square feet in Mesa, Arizona, to 30,000 square feet in Sacramento, Caif.

“We sell everything except the bike itself,” Lin said. “That includes everything from boots to helmets to parts.”

Lin said Cycle Gear carries accessories for all brands of motorcycles except Harleys.

“They have their own chain of retail stores,” Lin said.

Lin said the company is in growth mode and the Tinley store will be the retailer’s 99^th store. The 100^th store will open later this summer in Harrisburg, Penn.

“We’ve opened four stores in the last year,” he said.

Lin said the company will probably open a third Chicago-area store in the future, but he didn’t have a timetable or location for that store.

He said the Tinley store would have a staff of 10-12 team members led by store manager Nycool (pronounced Nicole) Yarnall.

“We’re recruiting team members for both the Tinley and Schaumburg stores,” Lin said. “Just visit the stores or apply at the company website.”

Lin said there would be lots of giveaways for the grand opening weekend in particular as well as for the next month. Raffle prizes will include a GoPro Camera, Shoei Helmet and a Cycle Gear shopping spree. 

“We’ll have a lot of swag to give away,” he said.

The Tinley store will be open seven days a week, which Lin said was unusual for motorcycle shops.

“Most cycle shops are closed on Sunday and a lot are also closed on Monday,” he said. “We pride ourselves on being open seven days a week.”

Hours for the Tinley store will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

For information, visit Cycle Gear online or check out Cycle Gear Tinley Park on Facebook.

Stay of execution for Rand Hallmark stores

Closing of the Rand Hallmark stores in Frankfort, Tinley Park, Orland Hills, Joliet, Lockport and Oswego has been delayed until the end of the month as owner Gary Watland tries to find buyers for the shops, which had been planning on closing Monday night before hitting the auction block Tuesday.

Charter Fitness opens new facility in New Lenox

Charter Fitness has opened its new larger facility at 1325 E. Lincoln Highway in New Lenox and closed two locations that were former Cardinal Fitness centers at 2465 E. Joliet Highway and 800 Laraway Road.

The new facility has longer hours, more parking and better fitness equipment including cardio exercisers and an outdoor running track. The new gym is also planning free Wi-Fi and child care.

Hours are 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

For information, call 815-463-8500 or visit Charter Fitness of New Lenox on Facebook.

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.