Business & Tech
Business Comings & Goings: Charter Fitness Moving in Mokena
A look at new businesses in town and a fond farewell to those that have for whatever reason bid adieu.
Editor's Note: This article has been revised to reflect that Deon and Vicki O'Bryant are the owners of Sweet Dreams Cakes.
The Charter Fitness health club on 191st Street in Mokena will close today, so it can move staff and equipment into its new digs in the village at 19816 S. LaGrange Road next to the Brookhaven grocery store.
The health club hopes to reopen on Tuesday or Wednesday after village inspectors sign off on the new facility.
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The phone number will remain unchanged at 708-479-4477. For information, visit them online at Charter Fitness Mokena.
Advance Auto Parts Now Open
Virginia-based Advance Auto Parts opened an after-market auto store earlier this month in the last remaining outlot at the Mokena Town Square shopping center at LaGrange and LaPorte roads in Mokena.
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The store, which is next to the A&W Root Beer and KFC restaurant, is the company’s 11th in the Chicago Southland.
For information, call 708-478-8098 or visit them online at Advance Auto Parts.
Ribbon Cutting for Sweet Dreams Cakes
Sweet Dreams Cakes, 7956 Lincoln Highway in Frankfort, will hold its ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3. The bakery owned by Deon and Vicki O'Bryant opened in August.
Book Worm Café Opens 2nd Location
Owners of the Book Worm Café in the Oak Lawn Library, whose plans to open a second location in the New Lenox Library, fell apart in July were able to revive the planned expansion and celebrated the opening of the second Bookworm Café last week. The new location has the same menu as the Oak Lawn location. Owners are Nancy Jensen and Andy Vaitkus.
PADS Opens Permanent Homeless Shelter
South Suburban PADS, in partnership with Turnstone Development, opened a 77-unit permanent supportive housing facility last week at 4411 Gatling Blvd. in Country Club Hills.
The permanent shelter for the homeless, known as the Country Club Hills Wellness Center, is the first of its kind in the Southland. It has a combination of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.
The five-story facility features a library and TV/community room on each floor, a children’s playground, classrooms and program offices, computer lab, and a culinary career center.
Future plans call for a vegetable and herb garden and a wellness clinic.
Country Club Hills donated 3.5 acres of land for the facility.
PADS is an inter-faith program providing shelter and support services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness in the Southland. It opened its first emergency shelter 22 years ago.
“Our ultimate hope was to bring an end to homelessness,” Mike Wasserberg, executive director for South Suburban PADS, said in a release. “While other agencies were providing some services, PADS plan was to create an organization dedicated to serving only individuals and families experiencing homelessness.”
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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 and www.southlandsavvy.com.
