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Business & Tech

Business Comings & Goings: FrancoNello's Opening this Month?

FrancoNello's opening this month in Beverly? Andy's Frozen Custard eyes Burbank. Mariano's looks to Evergreen Park. Gotcha Haircut opens in Oak Lawn.

Marty Joyce, chief of staff for Ald. Matt O’Shea said he believes FrancoNello’s at 10222 S. Western Ave. in Beverly may be opening later this month.

“I know they’re making progress,” he said. “The tables and chairs are there and it looks ready to go. They have really done a nice job remodeling the upstairs bar.”

The Italian restaurant burned down on Labor Day 2011. Its Facebook page has been promising a reopening since October.

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The restaurant also said on its Facebook page that customers holding expired Groupon offers should not despair. The restaurant promised to honor the offers once its doors are open.

Numerous calls and emails to the restaurant haven’t been returned.

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Calabria Imports Closes Evergreen Park Location

Calabria Imports owner Pat Roberto said this week’s closing of the Evergreen Park location at 3512 W. 95th St. was not an easy decision but one that had to be made.

“It was starting to hurt the Beverly location,” he said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I appreciate everything that was done for us by the mayor and customers.”

Roberto said the Evergreen store had a good customer base but it just wasn’t enough to justify keeping the location open any longer.

“We’ll offer delivery to Evergreen Park to try to keep those customers,” he said. “Also, any gift certificates purchased at the Evergreen Park location are good at the Beverly location.”

He said the cook from Evergreen was brought over to the Beverly location as well as a couple of other staffers.

“I had to let a couple of high school kids go,” he said.

For information, call 773-396-5800 or visit Calabria Imports on Facebook.

Andy’s Frozen Custard coming to Burbank

Missouri-based Andy’s Frozen Custard has been so impressed with the results at its Oak Lawn location on Cicero Avenue that it recently agreed to open new locations in Countryside and Burbank.

“The South Side works for us,” said company president Andy Kuntz. “These two locations will help our brand awareness.”

The company is looking to break ground this month on former firehouse property at 5745 S. LaGrange Road in Countryside and in April at 79th Street and Harlem Avenue in Burbank.

“We should be open in Countryside by the end of May or beginning of June and about 30 days behind that in Burbank,” Kuntz said.

Each location will employ about 25 people and feature the giant ice cream cone that rotates outside of the Oak Lawn store.

The new sites will be the company’s fourth and fifth in Illinois. A location at Block 37 in downtown Chicago closed last year.

Mariano’s eyes site in Evergreen

File this one under when it rains it pours.

Last week, Mariano’s Fresh Market announced it would open a store at 111th Street in Oak Lawn as the anchor for that long-awaited redevelopment of the old Kmart property.

Then the Chicago-area branch of Milwaukee-based Roundy’s Supermarkets opened its first store in the Southland this week at U.S. 30 and LaGrange Road in Frankfort.

Now comes word that the chain wants to build yet another Southland store at the old Webb Ford site at 2601 W. 95th St. in Evergreen Park.

Evergreen Park Mayor James Sexton announced the news at Monday night’s village board meeting.

Taxmonster opens in Mt. Greenwood

Certified Public Accountant Michael Schmidt has opened a tax preparation business called Taxmonster at 3520 W. 111th St. in Mt. Greenwood. For information, call 773-840-3911.

Gotcha Haircut opens in Oak Lawn

A new full service hair salon called Gotcha Haircut opened last month at 9734 Southwest Highway in Oak Lawn. For information, call 708-990-8535.

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

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