Business Comings & Goings: Fairplay Foods to Take Over Former Dominick's

Supermarket choices in Oak Lawn, which took a beating in recent months with the closings of the Oak Lawn Fresh Market at 95th Street and Cicero Avenue and the Dominick’s Finer Foods at 87th Street and Cicero, will pick up with the coming addition of Fairplay Foods, a neighborhood supermarket chain with seven locations across the Southland.

“We’re celebrating,” said Fairplay’s Mike Kozlowski, vice president of retail operations and a partner in the business, which will be moving in to the former Dominick’s at 87th Street.

“We had a nice meeting with town officials and some of them knew us from shopping at our store in Worth,” he said.

“We’re not sure when we’ll be ready to open,” said Kozlowski. “We are redoing the store entirely. We’re going to give it a new look. We have to bring in all new equipment.”

Kozlowski said when ready, the new Fairplay will feature a bakery and hot food department, expanded produce and deli departments as well as the company’s trademark fresh meat department.

“We concentrate on our fresh meat department,” Kozlowski said. “It’s one of the things we’re known for; great quality.”

“We are a neighborhood store,” Kozlowski said. “Unlike some of the big box supermarkets, we know what our clients are looking for and we want to give them what they are looking for.”

The Oak Lawn store will be almost 52,000 square feet, which would make it one of the bigger stores for the 40-year-old chain.

Fairplay has three locations in Chicago as well as suburban locations in Hickory Hills, Worth, Markham and Dolton.

Visit Fairplay Foods to learn more the company and its stores.  

Smith Furriers to Close

Smith Furriers is closing its longtime salon at 5000 W. 95th St. and is seeing customers by appointment only. A message on its phone answering system says the salon is relocating but gives no new location.  A message left on the salon answering system was not returned. For information, call 708-425-4540.

UPS to Host Chamber Event

The UPS Store at 9624 S. Cicero Ave. will host a Business After Hours for the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4. For information, call the chamber at 708-424-8300.

Chamber, Service Groups Team Up for Lunch

The Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce will partner with service organizations for its monthly luncheon on April 10 at the Hilton Oak Lawn, 9333 S. Cicero Ave.

Registration and networking will begin at 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch at noon. 

There will be presentations from the Oak Lawn Kiwanis Club, Oak Lawn Lions, Oak Lawn Rotary, , Oak Lawn Raiders and the American Legion.

For information and to reserve a spot, call the chamber office at 708-424-8300 or email office@oaklawnchamber.com.

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

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.