First Midwest to acquire Bridgeview Bank
First Midwest Bank announced it has reached an agreement to buy Bridgeview Bank, which was founded in 1971 in Bridgeview by brothers Peter and Tom Haleas, in a cash and stock deal valued at $145 million.
The merger was announced late last week and adds Bridgeview Bank’s $1.2 billion in assets to Itasca-based First Midwest, which has been expanding its presence in the Chicago marketplace.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.
Bridgeview Bank operates 13 branches. Five are on Chicago’s north side, the rest are in Bridgeview, Woodridge, Vernon Hills, Mokena, Oswego, Beach Park and one at 6366 S. Archer Ave. on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
Dixie Kitchen relocates in Lansing
A Cajun restaurant with roots that date back more than 20 years to Chicago’s Hyde Park community has moved into new digs in Lansing.
Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop opened a second location in 2002 at 2262 E. 172nd St. in Lansing. That location was hard to find, so when the opportunity presented itself to move into a more prominent location on busy Torrence Avenue, owners jumped at the chance to relocate.
The restaurant closed in June and in August moved into its new home at 17940 S. Torrence Ave. The new location had been home to a restaurant called Bohemian Joe’s. But before that it had been the longtime home to Popolano’s.
Power woes temporarily close Frankfort restaurant
Sorriso Italian restaurant at 9500 W. Lincoln Highway in Frankfort was closed for a few days last week because of what the restaurant called ongoing issues with power to the building.
The eatery was open for business as usual on Dec. 8.
Best Western breaks ground in McCook
Best Western International broke ground on a new hotel in southwest suburban McCook that will be one of the hotel chain’s new Glo boutique brand locations.
The groundbreaking took place Nov. 28 at 8951 W. 47th St. in a business park just west of First Avenue. The hotel is being built next to the MAX, a popular indoor athletics building in the village.
There will be 76 guest rooms in the four-story, 41,000-square-foot hotel, complete with an indoor pool, conference rooms, an exercise room and dining area, developer Manoj Mahapatra said. Mahapatra owns five other hotels.
The new hotel is expected to open for guests in the fall of 2019.
7-Eleven closes in Mokena
The 7-Eleven convenience store at 19101 S. Wolf Road in Mokena closed without much warning at the end of November.
Mattress Firm closes 3 Orland locations
Houston-based retailer Mattress Firm, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, recently closed three stores in Orland Park.
At the time, the chain announced it expected to close 30 stores in Illinois and as many as 700 stores nationwide as part of its reorganization.
The decision to close the stores in certain markets was made because there were “too many locations in close proximity to each other,” the company said in a news release.
Six of the stores announced for closing were in the south suburbs, but none were in Orland Park.
The three stores closed were at 15840 S. Harlem Ave., 14724 S. LaGrange Road and 29 Orland Square Drive.
The retailer still has three stores in the village, all in close proximity to the closed locations.
Brightwood College abruptly closes
Brightwood College, formerly Kaplan College, a system of for-profit colleges in the United States, owned and operated by Education Corporation of America announced without warning on Dec. 5 that it would be closing all of its schools.
One of the campuses was located at 7833 Indianapolis Blvd. in Hammond in northwest Indiana.