Cupid Candies closes Orland Park store after death of owner
When Orland Park resident John Stefanos sold CupidCandies earlier this year his intentionwas to run the sweet shops in Oak Lawn and Orland Park and act as a consultant to Stephanie Hart, owner of Brown Sugar Bakery, who purchased the company.
All that changed about a month ago, when Stefanos suffered a fall and struck his head. He died Sept. 26 from complications frombrain bleeds related to that fall. Hewas
74.
Because of the injury, his family had decided to close theOakLawnshoponSept.
27. It had been there for more than 60 years. The plan then was to keep the Orland shop open. But after Stefanos died, his family decided lastweek to close the Orland store aswell. Its last daywas Sunday.
Hart will keep the factory at 7637 S. Western Ave. open to produce her line of pies and pastries as well as favorite Cupid products, includingTurks.
Cupid fans will be able to find items online and in the shop at the factory. Hart said she planned to have Cupid pop-up shops in Oak Lawn and Orland Park during the holidays.
Stefanos’ father, Polyhronis Stefanos, opened the first Cupid Candies in 1936 at 79th and Ashland Avenue in Chicago’s
Gresham neighborhood, making fudge, toffee and popcorn. In 1940, he and his wife, Pauline, opened another store at 3207 W. 63rdSt. inChicagoLawn, andin1943moved a block east, to 3143 W. 63rd St., beside the Marquette Theater.
Itwas at that store, with its ice cream and soda fountain, that John Stefanos started nearly 60 years ago as a soda jerk. He went on to become a master chocolate maker creating turks, meltaways and other Cupid Candies treats.
His father’s brother, Leo, founded Dove Candies & Ice Cream, once located at 6000 S. Pulaski Road inWest Lawn.
In an obituary posted on the website of Orrico Kourelis Funeral Services in Orland Park, which handled the funeral arrangements, his family described Mr. Stefanos as “a real-life Willie Wonka who brought so much happiness and joy to all of his nieces and nephews and grandnieces and -nephews and everyone that knew him over the decades.”
Rosie’s closes in Frankfort
Rosie’s Diner in the Frankfort Crossing shopping center near U.S. 30 and LaGrange Road in Frankfort is closed and its 1,600square-foot space is for lease, according to itsmanagement company Phillips Edison.
A sign on the door said the closing was due to unforeseen circumstances. The diner had been open for several years.
Salina’s opens second location
Tinley Park’s Salina’s Pizza opened a second locationTuesday atFrankfortCrossing shopping center at 21114 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort.
The new location is in the former Papa John’s pizzeria that closed earlier this summer.
Thecompanywas founded in TinleyPark 23 years ago and moved from its original home to bigger digs at 7551 W. 175th St. several years ago.
Besides pizza, which comes in its signature thin, as well as pan and stuffed, the restaurant offers a range of pastas, dinners, sandwiches and appetizers. It also has a catering and event rental businesses.
PalosHeights pizzeria set to open inNovember
Manhattan Firehouse Grill, which is remodeling the former Nick’s restaurant at 127th Street and Harlem Avenue in Palos Heights, is now taking online applications only at its Facebook page, The Manhattan Firehouse Grill.
The restaurant anticipates opening in
November.
SkenderManufacturing shuts down
A venture to build modular multifamily, health and commercial buildings on the Southwest Side that was announced amid much fanfare in July 2018 has shut down.
Chicago-based Skender Construction announced the creation of Skender Manufacturing at 3348 S. Pulaski Road in South Lawndale. The project was expected to bring 100 new jobs to the area.
The factory received a visit from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot at its ribbon-cutting ceremony in May 2019. She hailed the venture as a “win-win for Chicago.”
The venture was shut down earlier this month because it could not raise the money needed to keep the plant operating.
CEO Mark Skender told Crain’s that the companywas getting orders for its modular units, but the pandemic dried up sources of capital the venture needed.
“Really what it came down towas raising capital,” he told Crain’s. “Obviously, it was a tough decision, but I still believe in the business model. This is what the housing industry needs.”