Brothers Dan and David Casey, owners of Casey’s Market (915 W. Burlington St., Western Springs, 708-246-0380), have done business since 1980 in a store that specializes in fresh meat, poultry and seafood. Business has grown in 17 years (there are three stores), but now the Caseys can better accommodate their Western Springs clientele, thanks to space gained when the folks next door retired.
“We waited 12 years to get that spot,” Dan said. “The former tenants knew we were interested in expanding and were kind enough to tell us about their plans.”
Breaking through the wall doubled the size of the store to 5,000 square feet. The move let the owners increase the deli section to 24 feet from 12 feet and add a kitchen.
“We used to buy most of our deli items because of the limited space. Now, with the kitchen, we’re able to be more creative,” said Dan. “For example, we added huge, homemade twice-baked potatoes ($1.49 apiece); on a recent Saturday we sold 300.”
The lineup also includes ready-to-heat entrees such as beef Burgundy ($6.49 per pound) and herb-peppercorn pork chops ($4.49 per pound); salads, including white-meat chicken salad ($5.98 per pound) and red-skin potato salad ($2.98 per pound). Party dips include a popular spinach dip and chili con queso (both $3.98 per pound).
More space has also let the brothers present “Cooking with the Best Chefs,” Monday evening classes ($12 or $15 per session) taught by restaurant chefs. New classes begin in January.