Mr. Kay’s recently opened a shoe store in Southlake Mall, its second location. The footwear retailer has been located in River Oaks Center in Calumet City since 2007, and specializes in shoes, socks and accessories for larger customers. It’s known for a "large stock of hard-to-find sizes," including for formal occasions.

“PCTC has since become the Pavement Coatings Technology Council, essentially a public relations arm for the sealcoating industry. But when initially started it was a research organization and I thought that was a great step forward for the industry,” he says.

"We’re very busy and it was wearing down our staff if we had one or two people missing," he said. "By putting it together, we have 10 barbers on any given day. We can serve our customers better and it’s lighter on us. The flow’s a lot better and the wait’s not as long. We do recommend appointments at least a day in advance, but also take walk-ins."

As hopes of a restructuring dwindled, Hard Rock Park’s owners put it up for sale. In February 2009, a group of new owners—including a Moscow-based development company called MT Development and some of Hard Rock Park’s initial equity backers—announced that they had agreed to buy the park for just $25 million, less than a tenth of its valuation barely 10 months earlier.

"We’ll take baby steps," he said. "Of course I’d like to go nationwide. But these are big projects. These aren’t $100,000, $200,000 projects. These are $4 million apiece."

The record shop, which sells vinyl records, CDs, T-shirts and stereo equipment, will move from its current 2,800-square-foot space in Lansing to a 4,000-square-foot space at 411 Conkey in Hammond.

Domino’s Pizza, the largest pizza chain worldwide, will keep the Noid at bay and deliver pizza in 30 minutes at three new Region locations.

Thousands of visitors turned up for Hard Rock Park’s grand opening in April 2008, drawn by concerts from the Eagles and the Moody Blues. Theme park nerds flocked to the Led Zeppelin coaster, which was made by renowned Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard (“The Maserati of the rollercoaster world,” as Binkowski put it). Todd Davis, a telecoms engineer and theme park fanatic from Charleston, bought a season ticket; he told me the Led Zep ride felt like “gliding on air.”

The location has a drive-through, on-the-go mobile ordering and Dunkin’ Donut K-Cup Pods and ground coffee available for retail sale.

The stately Colonial Revival-style building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, will host weddings, company functions and other events.

The perfect housewarming or hostess gift, and a great treat for an avid cook, this kitchen utensil set features heads made from heat-resistant, silicone that’s BPA-free and FDA-approved. Better yet, the handles are beautiful and durable, and are crafted from renewable and sustainably harvested bamboo. These pieces won’t scratch your pots and pans and stay their same stylish dove gray color, even with frequent, heavy use.

These days the other premium brands will make you a very fast mid-sizer in most shapes, but not a liftback.