Can Domino's Pizza Make it the Second Time Around

On a recent visit to the local Chase bank branch at 82nd Cottage Grove, I noticed that the adjacent community room had paper on the window and a Dominos Pizza sign above it. I was taken back because Dominos opened  several years ago directly across the street on the west side of Cottage Grove. The store stayed opened approximately 1 year and closed.

Recently, there was quite a bit of after the fact discourse about the relocation of Dunkin Donuts to 87th Vernon. So I took the time to write a statement to Dominos. My statement is as follows:

I'm a resident of the Chatham community in Chicago and noticed that you are planning to open a new store at 82nd Cottage Grove. The store is directly across the street from a store you previously operated that failed. I'm  concerned that this store will not succeed based on your current menu options, that I do not feel will be appealing to my neighbors and lack of outreach to my community regarding employment and management opportunities. Unless there are some changes I see this ending up like the first store.

 I felt that the time to complain and ask for changes to the standard model is before a store opens and not after everything is inked. While the store is officially located in the 8th ward and not the 6th, they must get business from the 6th to stay in business.

The Dominos today is different from the previous store as the corporation was sold and they have made attempts to change their menu to attract a more diverse customer base. That is why I do not feel that its not a problem to ask them to sell alternative crust( whole, wheat, gluten free, etc), alternative protein(chicken, turkey, etc) and other options that would answer the "healthy" issue that many are asking for. Also, I believe that they should hire locally and our children should have opportunities to work in the community.

So far Dominos has not responded to my email and I have not been notified by any of our community organizations or Alderman that they have been contacted. I plan to contact them again and if they do not respond then I will respond by not spending my money at their location. So what do you think?

Why Speedy Isn't Always Good

Recently, it was brought to my attention that a Payday Loan store was coming to the community. The site at 8701 S Cottage Grove, which was previously a Michaels's muffler will be the new home to

When a pawn shop or payday loan store want to open up they must apply for a special use permit. In April 2012, EZ Pawn, a national pawn shop company presented their case to the residents of the 8th and 6th ward at a community forum held at the offices of Michelle Harris, Alderman of the 8th ward and President Pro-tem of the City council. The community was not receptive and although the community said resoundingly NO they decided to plead their case to the City of Chicago Zoning board. The case was continued until earlier this year and the Zoning Board denied the special use permit for EZ Pawn. The reasons they cited were:

Speedy Cash. of Wichita Kansas currently has no locations in Chicago and this choice of locations is puzzling.

Speedy Cash

Pursuant to Section 17-13-905 of the Chicago Zoning Ordinance, the Board makes the following findings with reference to the Applicant's application for a Special use Permit: 1. The application is not in the interest of the public convenience and will have an adverse effect on the general welfare of the neighborhood in that the community is overwhelmingly opposed to the establishment of a pawn shop at the Subject Property; 2. It is not compatible with the character of the surrounding neighborhood as it is incompatible with the economic development in the surrounding area in that it will have a negative impact on other potential tenants; 3. The proposed project does not contribute or promote pedestrian traffic in that there are at least four banks within the immediate vicinity of the Subject Property and a pawn shop at the Subject Property will not contribute to the convenience of those residing in its immediate vicinity.

With the zoning board's decision on EZ Pawn, why would Alderman Michelle Harris believe that a payday loan store would add to the community. There is an existing location located in the East 1200 block, one at the 8300 S Cottage Grove and three banks in the East 700 block and several church credit unions with a half mile radius. So why didn't Alderman Harris host a community forum on this site? Why wasn't it published in any of her newsletters? Guess to find those answers we will have to wait for her updated D2 statements to be published by the State of Illinois Election commission to find out.

Chase Community Giving on Facebook

Chase N.A. is giving away $5 million to charities. The charities must be registered on Facebook to be eligible. The charities with the most votes will win awards. Individuals can vote up to 20 times. For more details go to