80 jobs lost and Dave says it for the best—very jaded attitude from someone who has job security! I'm not sad to see this KMart close, it has been a ghost-town for many years and Dominicks leaving sure didn't help, but my heart goes to those 80 who are now left to fight in this job market. Best of luck to them, and the best of luck to Oak Lawn and it's future regarding this property.

I'm curious as to whether Sears would have closed this store if there was no legal action involved.

Just Great nothing will happen until 2014. That is worse than the current situation. Ok then we will be getting another mall that will be eventually disserted. Ugh! Wake up! No one has money to spend Anywhere!

Yeah, does that mean a vacant corner for 2 more years! I mean we desperately need decent shopping in OL...but it needs to hurry up...housing values are terrible & I can't afford to keep driving to Orland & Countryside and further anymore!!!

If kmart had decided years ago not to engage in a fight with the village of oak lawn this could have been fixed years ago. Sears/kmart has been going downhill for years. And I have been in that kmart only a small number of times over a few years. Of the 80 employees that work there I have encountered 1, and only 1, employee who has ever helped me, assisted customers and was pleasant. Every other employee either ignored me or kept right on chit chatting with other associates when I needed assistance. I feel bad for 1 employee who I am certain she will find another job due to her friendliness and hard work. The rest better get their acts together and then I will feel bad for them for losing their jobs.

Also I would like to say that if the space is going to be empty for 2 years, oak lawn better have a fantastic beautiful plan in place for this space to make it a destination shopping experience. With the wolf wildlife trail right there it would be really nice to see this incorporated into an outdoor shopping area with the walking trail etc built in.

Cemetery across the steet, light demographics and income levels. Actor Dave - some ADVICE ----: ANYBODY, ANYBODY will sign a letter of intent to secure their interest in any retail development, but when it comes time to commit $, they will leverage and back out. Larry Deetjen is in bed with a small group of retail brokers who promise everything on the Village of Oak Lawns $. Why don't you propose Fantasyland in OakLawn -- its all the same.

Maybe the village can re-open Kiddieland there?

Actually, Fantasyland, or s small family amusement park, would be a better idea, BY FAR, than trying to add more shopping in an area that already doesn't have the demographic support. 95th Street has plenty of vacant retail space already, as does Cicero further north, closer to higher traiffic patterns. Why will people drive to 111th and Cicero when they won't drive for the same or similar stores in Chicago Ridge Mall? I don't like the town constantly bigfooting existing owners, even though Kmart didn't do themselves any favors by not allowing another grocery store to move in. Could the land be better used? Probably. Is this the right time or right place for another mall, at a time when mall use is declining? [http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Mises-Economics/2012/0208/The-decline-of-the-shopping-mall] [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/shopping_centers/index.html]
Officials seems to have a 'If we build it they will come" attitude...I know at least three of them that clearly had that in mind when we spoke after a meeting...all that will lead to is a freshly minted white elephant...and guess who will have to clean up after THAT mess...

A giant Chuck-e-cheese would be perfect !

Chuck-e-Cheese?????/ We have one of those now that you can't safely go to!!! We had to take our kids out to the one in Tinley with all the trouble we had at ours!! We took our kids there when they were young, and then all of a sudden there were
fights inside and out making for an unsafe environment.........

A little nervous, here!! Does the sale include the land BEHIND where Dominick's was? Where there's still a nice bit of nature left? I'll sure hate to see that disappear.

Dear Lord!!! It isn't big enough for a Super WalMart, is it!!!? Please, God!! No!!! (Although it would probably mean jobs for most of the 80 Kmart people who will be losing theirs, if they are still alive when that time comes.)

I've always found the Kmart employees to be most accommodating and very polite and pleasant in their attitude.
I can't say I'm surprised that they're closing that particular Kmart. I hate to say it this way, but I've loved shopping there -- because it's always so empty. I always marveled at how they stayed open, considering their prices and lack of customers.

I'd love to see a Trader Joe's open there!!! I suppose that's hardly big enough to be an 'anchor store', though. And perhaps they've already saturated this area as much as they want to.

But, please!! No more banks!!! No more fitness centers!! No more fast food joints!!! No more home improvement centers!! No more dollar stores!!! (Well, maybe a Dollar Tree, just for my convenience.)
Don't let a Walgreens move in there!!! They already have them every two feet as it is!!! And if you let them in, it probably means letting a CVS move in too, right across from them!!!!
I won't be surprised if we see development there sooner than 2014.

How about another T.G.I.F

Perhaps they should build De-JA-BREW 2. Then Tom Phelan could walk home after a night on the town!

What a relief! It was an unsafe store and did more damage to the community then benefit. It was just as crappy as is Chuckie Cheese. Plus, a friend of mine who worked there said that the majority of the workers were NOT Oak Lawn residents. As to why more business in Oak Lawn do not not hire locals is beyond me. They are more invested in the betterment of the community. It's a fact.

Egad, maybe we will move out of Oak Lawn.

Maybe the prospective anchor is Moo and Oink. Wouldn't that be awesome?!!!

Sorry to disappoint you but they(M&O)
went broke and are out of business!!

Yeah, isn't it some kind of deal where they're out of business, taken over by Best Chicago Meat Company, who has been supplying them for decades and I think they're going to keep using the 'Moo and Oink' name. So there may be no significant change.
Except for their commercials, sniff, sniff!!! Gee, I'll miss them!!! I hope they decide to do their advertising the same way Moo and Oink always did!!!
Yes, I think having a Moo and Oink there would indeed be awesome!!!! That a great idea!!!

Trader Joe's would be great. And maybe Goodwill, too. Yes, the same people shop
at both stores. Dollar Tree's not a bad idea, either. Whole Foods probably wouldn't
work, since their stores are usually pretty large, but Trader Joe's, would most likely
be busy and much appreciated. And then maybe some family-friendly eatery. Just
some thoughts -- a place to take children and grandchildren. Thanks for taking comments!

I think it is awful that the village really doesn't care what the people want. They have a plan and will put it in place no matter the cost. That Kmart can in NO WAY be considered underperforming!! Just pass by anytime and that parking lot is alwys full. The store is safe and clean. I have never had to worry about purse snatching, pick pockets or any other crimes in that area. It is just awful that they will close that Kmart regardless of the feelings of the residents of Oak Lawn! The tax payers AND THE VOTERS!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry to hear that people will lose jobs with the closing of Kmart, but if a shopping center is developed, possibly more people could be employed there. I would love to see a Trader Joe's open, but I'm afraid Oak Lawn isn't the demographic they are going after. I'm also interested in Ulta Salon/Beauty Supply store, Half-Price Books, Penzey's Spices, Lou Malnati's, Tuesday Morning, or TJ Maxx going in. Cicero is a busy road so I imagine it would be desirable for businesses to open there.

Lawanda --
There's something strange about that Kmart!!!! Or at least about its parking lot!!!!!
Every time I go by there -- and I go by there quite often -- the parking lot always looks packed! Well, actually, the lot is humongous, so the whole lot isn't filled up. But it's rare that I ever get a spot close to the door!!!! I usually have to park way down at the far end!! No matter when I go.
But it's like you enter a parallel or alternate universe when you step through the doors!!!!
I've gone as far as 5 aisles without laying eyes on another human being, much less an employee!!!
It almost always seems depressingly empty. Pretty much like a ghost town, considering it's a retail store. It's so slow that it's even pretty quiet in there.
I always wonder 'WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE WHOSE CARS ARE OUT THERE!!!!!????'
It really is kind of freaky, LOL!!!!
Sadly, I guess maybe 60 or more of those cars belong to the employees, many of whom might be working off the floor. I really doubt they have a crew of 20 working when the store is closed. I don't even know if they HAVE an overnight crew.
Yep. Inside the store, I always wondered how they were keeping their doors open.
Outside the store, it always looks like business is booming.
I so hope those employees manage to find good jobs when the time comes.

Thank God K-Mart is finally out of there. They sold nothing but crap anyway. Now, let's get Whole Foods as an anchor store there. How about it Dave?

Whole Foods? Really? That would be only mildly interesting to me. (I'm sure I could get the few 'weird' things there that I have trouble finding around these here parts.) I would shop there -- but not for very much.
I haven't been in one in ages -- just because of its location -- but it was very high priced compared to the grocery stores around here, at that time.
I don't know if Whole Foods would want to move into a (comparatively lower income area such as Oak Lawn.
And if they DO come here, I'm rather dubious about whether it would be as profitable as they would need it to be.
I saw them on the news about a month ago and it was about how they are lowering SOME prices, in spite of their rising operating costs, because they were not doing enough business. They felt that dropping prices on some of their items would bring in more people while the existing customers would still be willing to pay the rather high prices on their natural and organic items, which is what they are known for and which they will keep at their current prices, or raise even more, as they see fit.
If they're not doing as well as they'd like in the relatively 'snooty' areas they're in now, I can't imagine that moving in here would be a good move.
Oh, this is all so exciting, isn't it!!!? I can't wait to find out what's coming!! I hope it's not something boring or redundant!!!

So now Oak Lawn is a "lower income" area?

K-mart was not, at least openly, talking about closing that store, though they may have been hedging, pending the outcome of this lawsuit...this way it is one less bit of ill-will for them.
Realizing that the town will knock down the Kmart building (and probably anything else they can get their eminent domain paws on), it doesn't matter what size a potential anchor store would be, it will built for their needs.
Whole Foods is having a hard enough time in Hinsdale, with no real competition in that point of service demographic (price range). (Same with Traders Joe's, by the way, they are doing okay in Orland Park and LaGrange, but again...) HINSDALE! So...
Yes, comparatively, Oak Lawn is a LOWER income area...

Well, yeah, as pointed out by Dave W. and if you go back and read what I wrote, Southside Dave, I DID qualify calling Oak Lawn a lower income area by use of the word 'comparatively'. The current locations of Whole Food stores ARE higher income than Oak Lawn. It's not a criticism; merely an observation.
I don't dislike Whole Foods at all!!! It's just too high priced for ME to do much shopping there!! Ergo, I'd just as soon see something else move in this spot! LOL!!! Pure self-interest!!!
Yes, I admit it. I'm a snob. And it's a really tough job too, seeing as I live in Hometown!!!! LOLOLOL!!!!!
So hard to look down my nose at others, don't you know, when I live in what's probably the lowest income suburb close to Oak Lawn!!!
Still, I do my best, swanking around in my Salvation Army clothes and tooling along the road in my 13 year old car!!!!!
Hahahaha!!! Peasants!!! Let them eat cake!!!!

Oh, must we have an 'anchor store' and then a bunch of other little things!!!??
What about an IKEA!!!!? Is there enough room for that!!!? I LOVE IKEA!!! But it's so far away!!

Wendy,

Oak Lawn is at a crossroads. The village has the transportation-based development footprint in place to go from an inner ring bedroom burb to a lively, sophisticated, and walkable community, but so do many others along the CTA or Metra. Higher end businesses just don't seem interested in Oak Lawn, and appear to be setting up shop a couple stops down the Metra Line in Orland. If people were really that concerned about living closer in, exurbs like Manteno, Frankfort, and Mokena wouldn't have the population explosions they've had.

It's purely anecdotal, but I also have the impression that many Oak Lawners don't want the denser type of condo housing generally required for the walkable community lifestyle centers to be successful. Add the racial, social, and economic changes into the mix, and based on history, I just don't see Oak Lawn coming out very well.

Think it'll never happen? Sound too extreme? Take a look at Gage Park, Marquette Park, Westlawn, Ashburn, and Scottsdale neighborhoods in Chicago. Take a look at the southern burbs of Dolton, South Holland, Richton Park, Country Club Hills.

I'd love to be proven wrong, but I take the more cynical view of integration and diversity that defines such as the period of time between the arrival of the first minority and the departure of the last caucasian.

I would like to think that Oak Lawn can become a walkable community, but I am afraid you are right, CJM. Higher end and even some mid level businesses do not want to open in Oak Lawn. I do think the housing boom caused the explosion in communities like Frankfort and Mokena, and with the economy still not doing well I would like to think people would factor in commutes and gas prices and decide on an inner ring suburb for housing. We can hope that Oak Lawn isn't in a downward spiral.

Wendy,

I also hope that a downward spiral can be avoided. That's why I said I think Oak Lawn's at a crossroads.

Ironically enough, the soft economy may actually have helped to stabilize the village a bit. I know a few Oak Lawners who've contemplated moving to those nouveau riche burbs discussed upthread, but the depressed housing market has held them back.

Anyway, they have an opportunity to do something good at 111th & Cicero. I'm very interested to see the mystery retailer revealed as per the cryptic comments by Mr. Heilmann.

Crossroads is an interesting choice of words...since it literally is at the crossroads of much on the southside...huge economic engine, dealerships galore, the best library outside of the city in perhaps all of northen Illinois, the water pumping station, etc...Walkability is a HUGE concern now, so much so that it is now an itergrated statistic on our MLS sheets (real estate jargon for information on properties). Many towns that DID explode during the boom are now IMploding because they are SO far away...I have seen entire subdivisions (or PLANNED) subdivsions go unfinished in places like Manteno or Bolingbrook or Romeoville (or a few others) that had Metra virtually to their door...except that the ride downtown, where these dopes still work, is an hour and a half ONE WAY...it seems great, but the houses aren't always built as good as they used to be, especially during the rush of the boom, and without substantial existing infrastructure, the taxes that SEEMED low are soon in excess of $7000 for a slightly larger but not THAT much larger home from this area. No great library, no city water (in some cases), no closeby hospitals, certainly not one with a world class trauma and cancer and children's wing. One grocery store, two gas stations, one big box Hickmart if you are lucky until the area gets built up, at which point, you are back to what you had here, except everyone you ever knew is at the very least 45 minutes away. Heck with walkability, hope for drivabilty.

CJM, I won't necessarily dispute your take about white flight (of which is what you were bumping around the edges...), but I am forced to wonder, not for the first time: What would happen if all those mopes who HAD to move out the first time somebody that wasn't of their same ethnicity moved in...didn't? Would the scary minority people build a house on top of an existing house? Would they burn a cross on the lawn until they 'established' people moved out so their 'hoodlum' friends (which, of course is ALL they have, in the minds of such 'enlightend' folk) could move in? And of course, they would set up a drug-dealer network tomorrow, right out of the garage, though not for the kids in the neighborhood, because that NEVER happens in the 'good' neighborhoods...
Not saying you are wrong , CJM, about the outcome you're concerned about, or casting blame that YOU feel this way...it just made me wonder, again. I deal with these issues almost daily, and it still amazes me how blatant people will be with their racism, their small-mindedness, etc.
I LOVE this area, I hope it remains vibrant for a hundred years then only gets even better...but the people who live here now will determine that. If we leave it up to a few people, the vocal minority, in some cases, we will get exactly what we deserve, nothing more, perhaps even less.

Dave W,

I don't think I was "bumping around the edges" of anything. I wasn't speaking in code; I came right out and said racial, social, and economic changes. You call it white flight. Tomato, to-mahto.

It almost seems as though you make fun of people who are concerned about the possible changes coming and dismiss them as racists. ("..scary minority people...hoodlum friends...set up drug-dealer network..") I'm not naive enough to think that racism doesn't exist and that some fears may be irrational, but denying the legitimacy of these concerns with flip comments seem disingenuous to me.

I also love Oak Lawn, even though I don't live there anymore. I still have deep ties to the village and keep up with the goings on. The tidal wave of change seems to have Oak Lawn in its path. I'd love to the village buck the trend that has seen most of the south side of the city and the southern suburbs become extensions of the ghetto when they were becoming "diverse". Will it happen? Only time will tell, however, I doubt you will see any higher-end retail coming to the village any time soon. As I said, it makes me sad, but it's the uncomfortable truth.

YOU ARE SO RIGHT CJM-----There is racial,social and econ changes going on now.
I grocery shop in Oak Lawn, bank in Oak Lawn, medical services in Oak Lawn and all
other shopping in Tinley and Orland. I moved here in 1967, raised 3 kids, used the schools, private and public, and ALLLLL my shopping was done in this town. Time changes everything. I hope that future businesses azre of quality or else dig up the parking lots and vacant buildings and plant grass and trees.At least we will not be looking at crap. Hey Village of Oak Lawn, wake up ---drive down Cicero north--advertising signs that I cannot read--SO I hope this town can keep up with the $$$$$$$

CJM, white flight happens because white people panic, nearly always unnecessarily, at the first sign of a 'non-white' moving in. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy from there on, with other white people telling their neighbors 'there goes the neighborhood', and moving out...when this happens, especially rapidly, the property values plummet because of the turnover. Which, in turn, makes more room for the actual 'ghetto' people that the first 'flighters' were freaking out about. In reality, the first of any demographic group to move into a 'white' neighborhood probably makes the same or more money, has the same or better job than the white people living there already, since they are upwardly mobile and trying to better their lives and those of thier children. It is only AFTER the initial wave that the 'lower' class people can move in. Whenever my idiot cousin would bring this up, I would have to remind him, no matter HOW BIG a racist he might be...remember, nobody can build a house ON TOP of yours...if you don't move, and your neighbors don't move, that 'token' minority would remain so for decades. It is telling that even this logic doesn't leak into the mind of a racist. Look at demographic, look at census readings. If all you knew about an area was the raw income numbers, you would never understand why neighborhoods change. It is only because you know the social outlier of racism that pervades our world that we can explain how the change happens.

Diane, you are part of the reason WHY those businesses do what they do...when you stopped shopping locally, do you think the stores all should have just closed? They didn't think so, and so they marketed to who was left...people from the city that wanted to shop near transportation and with nicer, bigger stores than what they had in the city. Blame capitalism, but don't blame a shop-owner for wanting to feed their kids when you took your business elsewhere.
You perpetuate the cycle you yourself are decrying.

Ah, the great melting pot!!!! Gotta love Americans' right to be bigots!!!! LOLOL!!!! Or to NOT be bigots!!! The freedom to choose which side we want to take in that issue is what makes this country great.
Ehhh, let 'em move. Don't care much for having people like that as my neighbors, anyway!!!
Yep!! Let 'em all move where they want -- and let God sort them out, later!!!
Besides, they can move, and they can move, and they can move, but the truth of it is, the whites will soon be in the minority!!! Hahahahahaha!!!!
They can run, but they can't hide!!! Not forever, anyway!!! The day will come when they will have to live with people of color, etc., whether they like it or not.
I am amused when I hear the bigots talk about how horrible this or that has gotten because -- well, YOU know!!!!
I take a sort of 'Schadenfreude' delight in their outrage and anger!!! The feelings they are living with are their own punishment for holding the attitudes that they do, in the first place!!!!
Oh, yeah.
And I'd still like to have a Trader Joe's!!! Either that or an IKEA. (Still don't know if that's feasible.)
As to its taking til 2014, well, I have no way of knowing, but I suspect that it has more to do with filling certain people's pockets with money than it does anything else. I'm only basing that on 59 years of watching this crap happen, over and over and over again!!

I have lived in Oak Lawn with my husband and family for over 46 years. Have loved it here. Now that we are older we would move to a smaller home to down size. We are moving because our house is to large now and have found another town further northwest of us and there are no steps to climb like our home in Oak Lawn, only a couple of steps to get in the house.

PD ?? 7 weeks ago you said you Might move out of Oak Lawn?? Now you Are moving?? Are you trying to tell us your not part of the people running out of OL because of all these previously discussed problems???

OTB would be great and a few good restaurants that we lack now.

How many more restaurants do people think the area can support? We already have Longhorn, T.G.I.F.s, Red Lobster, Les Brothers and Oak Lawn Restaurant, Papa Joe's, Palermo's, Petey's Bungalow, Grassano's,Flapjack's, Niko's Breakfast Cafe, Panera Bread, Corner Bakery, the China and numerous faster food places like Smashburger, McDonald's (3), Burger King, LJS and A&W, Little Caeser's, and I'm SURE I'm missing more than a dozen other places. This doesn't include everything in Chicago Ridge Mall, which is literally right across the street from Oak Lawn. Burbank has a few more along Cicero in particular, Alsip, even Hickory HIlls is a few minutes away from most of the town...Wendy's closed, Del Taco closed, Checkers closed, Outback stayed away, as did Pizza Hut. The area is saturated with options. If by 'good' people mean more upscale/expensive, than it is the same point as the stores of the same money-level...they aren't here for a reason. We have a LOT of people in Oak Lawn, we aren't a small sample size. Companies want to make money. If they had research showing they could, they would open (ala Andy's Custard), if not, they won't.

PD, I KNOW there are homes like the one you describe in Oak Lawn for sale, and I cannot imagine they cost more if not much less than wherever you are moving further northwest. If you want to move out, move someplace you feel is safer, fine...just don't say it was wonderful to be here, but you moved out because you found a house that had no stairs, as if there aren't any in a town you LOVED. Oak Lawn has amazing diversity of housing types. I know, I've been in every one of them at this point.

Dave W. Just because we bought a house in Oak Lawn 46 years ago doesn't mean we don't want to try another community. We are 78 and 79 years old and we have traveled a lot and right now we're in FL, our six months are up and we're going back to good ole IL. Have a great day, week and rest of your life.

I do not see many people moving out of oak lawn because banks are not giving out the money for mortgages. When the banks start lending there will be a flood of people moving to orland or or some other far southwest suburb.

OLG, I can't speak for EVERY lender out there, I can only speak to the ones I deal with: Chase, First Mortgage Corp, Private Bank, Harris (more, but the list will get ridiculous); the guidelines are pretty strict, but that works both ways. It is pretty cut and dried; you either qualify or you don't. If you DO, for FHA, you only need 3.5% down, no higher standards. 640, 3.5% down, all day long, no exceptions, no preference. Does your agent or you (the buyer) or maybe even the attorney need to keep in contact with the lender to make sure things are moving along? Yes. Should they be doing that anyway? Yes. Now...will you having a lower downpayment affect your monthly mortgage payment? Yes. Will you having a lower credit score do the same (because your interest rate will go up)? Yes. COULD that make your available loan limit lower? Definetely. Like I said, the strictness goes both ways. However, if you meet those standards, you will get a loan as quick as a 'conventional' person 98% of the time. There are always going to be some lender agents that dawdle, like in any industry, for some reasons better than others. Keep in mind, that FHA loan limits are pretty high, so the vast majority of homes in the area qualify for FHA price-wise.
If you are 'in the back of the line', go somewhere else. Mortgage people want to eat too; somebody will get you the loan. Laws are in place to make better certain nothing is hidden. If they had been before, we wouldn't be having this conversation!