Pete’s Fresh Market: ‘We Are Building’ in Orland Park

Pete’s Fresh Market still has plans to open up an Orland Park location, according to a representative. 

Eugene Grzynkowicz, who represents the market chain, was greeted with applause when he spoke during Tuesday night’s Plan Commission meeting, and assured those gathered that Pete’s Fresh Market is still looking to add Orland Park to their list of locations.

“I’m here to tell you we are not going anywhere,” Grzynkowicz said during the meeting. “We are building.”

Since the village announced initial plans to build a 73,000 square-foot Mariano’s grocery store within the northeast corner of 143rd Street and LaGrange Road, questions have come up about whether Pete’s would still build on 143rd Street and John Humphrey Drive. The site used to be Terry’s Lincoln, but Pete’s bought the location in 2012.

Grzynkowicz did not give a timeline for Pete’s to build during the meeting, and was not available for comment Wednesday.

Orland Park Development Services Director Karie Friling said Monday that Pete’s has not gone through approval for any work on the site in about a year. Kim Flom, the village’s assistant development services director, said Tuesday during the meeting that the last time Pete’s petitioned Orland Park was Aug. 2012.

“We got their plan, reviewed it, gave them staff’s comments and they were not ready to move forward,” Flom said Tuesday night.

Grzynkowicz said they have submitted three sets of drawings to village staff. After sending the second set, they were looking at purchasing an additional lot to accommodate green space requirements set by the village for the build.

“Before we bought it, we decided to come up with a new plan,” Grzynkowicz said. “The reason for that is Pete’s Market is an owner-operated grocer. We take high pride in our building and high pride in our materials.”

People concerned that building Mariano’s alone would create heavy local traffic, with streets extending into nearby subdivisions east of Orland Crossing, expressed more concern about a second grocery opening nearby, during Tuesday night’s meeting.

Plan commissioner John Paul said in response that it isn’t uncommon for the village to have grocery stores near each other.

“This is a vibrant retail community,” Paul said. “Once we had Randy’s and a Dominick’s, and now we’ll have Mariano’s and Pete’s if they want to come. We can’t stop businesses from opening if they want to come. It’s called capitalism.”

Read more about Orland Park’s Mariano’s development plan.

• A Mariano’s Could be in Orland Park's Future
• Compromise on Mariano’s Plan: 1 Street Extended into Development Instead of 2

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