First Secures adds new branch in Tinley Park
Palos Hills-based First Secure Bank Group is once again expanding its network of branches in the south suburbs.
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The company has acquired the former MB Financial branch at the corner of 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park and is in the process of converting it into the sixth First Secure Bank branch.
First Secure Bank Group is the product of the acquisition and recapitalizing of two banks that were in serious financial trouble.
Jay Bergman, chairman of First Secure, and other investors acquired control of American Heartland Bank in Sugar Grove in 2012 and First Secure Bank in Palos Hills in 2014. Both banks were turned around and each has since opened additional facilities. The parent companies of each bank were merged in 2018 and renamed the First Secure Bank Group Inc.
First Secure has over $1 billion in assets and in recent years has expanded to Oak Forest, Palos Park, Mokena and Orland Park.
First Secure also owns First Secure Community Bank with about $475 million in assets and locations in Joliet, Naperville, Aurora, Sugar Grove and Morris.
Bergman said First Secure is in the process of expanding its network of branches in the south suburbs.
“We hope to open one new branch a year,” Bergman said.
Urban Outfitters is coming to Orland Square Mall
Simon, the shopping center company that owns Orland Square Mall, last week announced Urban Outfitters will open a store at the Orland Park retail center in time for the holiday shopping season. This will be the first Urban Outfitters location in Chicago’s south suburbs. It will on the lower level in the Macy’s wing. Simon also announced East Coast-based Elite Jewelers is scheduled to open its first Midwest location at Orland Square Mall in the fall, in the upper-level center court.
Suki Hana is slated to open in the mall’s food court by late summer. The restaurant serves Japanese cuisine, including teriyaki dishes cooked on a teppanyaki grill and tempura made with fresh sushi.
Also, Barbara’s Bookstore opened earlier this month on the upper level of the mall’s JCPenney wing. The store has an extensive inventory of books.
159th Street lane closures in Orland Park
The Illinois Department of Transportation announced a project to extend the existing dry land bridge on 159th Street, just east of 104th Avenue, in Orland Park, will require lane closures as of Tuesday, June 28.
To complete the work, 159th Street will be reduced from two to one lane in each direction near 104th Avenue. The project is anticipated to be completed in early November.
IDOT has also started a culvert replacement project on Dixie Highway at 151st Street, in Harvey, which will require lane closures. Dixie Highway will be reduced from two to one lane in each direction at 151st Street. The project is anticipated to be completed in early November.
And an intersection improvement at Torrence Avenue and 167th/170th Street, in Lansing and Calumet City, will require daytime lane closures. The project, which consist of installing modernizing traffic signals, constructing ADA-compliant sidewalk ramps, replacing deteriorated curbs and resurfacing, is anticipated to be completed in October. At least one lane in each direction will remain open. Access to residences and businesses will be maintained throughout construction.
Motorists can expect delays, IDOT said.
Peach season coming to Southland in July
Tree-Ripe Fruit Co. has announced that it will bring fresh Georgia peaches and Michigan blueberries to the Southland in early July.
The company will be at the Lockport Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5788 in Lockport from 3-4:30 p.m. July 7. On July 8, it will be at Menards in Tinley Park, from 2-3:30 p.m. On July 8 and again on July 29, the company will stop at Northfield Square Mall in Bourbonnais from noon to 1:30 p.m.
“Despite a challenging late spring freeze in Georgia, all of our freestone peaches were untouched,” said Tree-Ripe Fruit Co. owner Tiernan Paine.
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Bob Bong is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].