Business Comings & Goings: Retired Local Cop Opens Smokehouse

The Saloon, a new country and western bar, is now open at 115 Bourbon Street.

After Brian Yates retired from the Evergreen Park Police Department he did what many former officers do and looked around for a new career. He settled on becoming a restaurateur with his wife, Mary, and earlier this year opened Smokehouse at 15020 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park. “I kinda like it out here,” he said explaining why he chose to locate his eatery in Orland Park. “The area has a little bit of everything.” The restaurant features burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, barbecued chicken and ribs. Hours for Smokehouse are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The eatery is closed on Sunday. “I need a day off once in a while,” Yates said with a laugh. Yates, who still calls Evergreen Park home, said business has been slow over…

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Fairplay Opens 'Softly' on Sunday

The long-awaited Fairplay Foods opens in the former Dominick space at 87th Street and Cicero Avenue at 7 a.m. Sunday. A grand opening is planned for next week.

Shhhh. Don't tell anybody, but Fairplay Foods, the Chicago-regional supermarket chain, is having a "soft" opening for its new Oak Lawn store at 87th Street and Cicero Avenue. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. The store will open its doors at 7 a.m. Sunday. The managers and staff will be putting on the final touches for the grand opening on Thursday, Oct.18. The Oak Lawn store is the seventh to open under the Fairplay banner, which has stores in Worth, Hickory Hills, Markham and three on Chicago's South Side. All of the stores are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Fairplay moves into the former Dominick's space which closed on Jan. 1. Those who relied on the store, especially seniors and …

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Business Comings & Goings: Fairplay Foods Nears Opening in Oak Lawn

Sara Lee Outlet Store in Oak Lawn will stay open through October, Harold's Chicken Shack to replace Fatburger in Beverly

Though the company says no opening date has been set for the new Fairplay Foods store at 87th Street and Cicero Avenue in Oak Lawn, employees say they have been working inside the store this week and were told the store will hold a soft opening starting Thursday, Oct. 11, with the official grand opening to occur a week later on Thursday, Oct. 18. Employees could be seen entering and leaving the store and working inside on Tuesday, so it looks as if the opening is imminent. A new Dunkin’ Donuts has opened at 10301 S. Central Ave. in Oak Lawn in the former Buscemi’s Beef restaurant. The new doughnut shop offers the usual Dunkin coffee and doughnuts and also has a drive-up window. Except for a coin-laundry, the rest of the retail strip is …

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Fairplay Conducts Interviews for Oak Lawn Store

A friendly reminder that Fairplay Foods will be conducting job interviews for its new Oak Lawn store Sept. 7-8.

Business Comings & Goings: Famous Dave's Coming to 95th Street

Home Run Inn is expected to open its newest location in October at 109th Street and Western Avenue in Beverly/Mt. Greenwood. Oak Lawn Ice Arena celebrates grand re-opening on Thursday.

  Minnesota-based Famous Dave’s restaurant chain earlier this month signed a lease for a 3,600-square-foot barbecue restaurant at 2851 W. 95th St. in the former Little Gym at Evergreen Pointe shopping center. The Evergreen Park Village Board approved a business license and wine and beer liquor license for Famous Dave’s back in April. The restaurant is now hiring managers and other employees. Job candidates can apply online at Famous Dave’s Evergreen Park. Once open, hours will be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The chain operates more than 170 restaurants in the United States. The nearest one is in Orland Park. The Oak Lawn Ice Arena, which was closed for the summer to …

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Retailers Hiring Store Associates in Local Area

Fairplay Foods coming to Oak Lawn and the expanded Wal-Mart in Bedford Park are offering career opportunities.

Two familiar retailers are hiring associates for stores slated to open in the fall in the local area. Fairplay Foods, the regional grocery store chain that is taking over the former Dominck’s space at 87th Street and Cicero Avenue will be hiring associates for its new Oak Lawn store slated to open this fall. Interviews are being conducted on Thursday, Sept. 6 from noon to 8:00, and Friday, Sept. 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fairplay’s vice president of retail operations Michael Kozlowski and a partner in the business did not say how many positions were being offered, what they paid or if health benefits were being offered. The company’s website did place a premium on happy employees “where all opinions” mattered. Job candidates can go online …

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What Should Go Here? Openings at Market Place of Oak Lawn

With a Fairplay Foods taking over the old Dominick's space, other store fronts and freestanding parcels at 87th Street and Cicero Avenue which could stand some improvement.

Time to turn our attention to one of the village’s most notorious retail eyesores, the Market Place of Oak Lawn. Subscribe to the O-L Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Sandwiched between 87th and 89th Streets along Cicero Avenue, the Market Place was once home to a bustling Dominick’s that closed in January and a Korvette Department Store back in the day. The shopping center is most famous for the tornado that loomed up behind it in 1967, captured in resident Ron Bacon’s iconic photo published in Life Magazine. Like O-L Patch on Facebook. A Fairplay Foods will open in the old Dominick’s space at the end of the summer, which we’re all happy about. HOBO’s, LA Fitness, Five Star Furniture and a Salvation Army thrift store are …

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

Neighborhood supermarket chain plans to remodel aging grocery store and bring in all new, energy efficient equipment.

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 …

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