Palos Heights’ loss will be Palos Park’s gain after Take Me Home gifts and home interiors shop opens soon in the Mill Creek Shopping Center, 131st Street and La Grange Road.
“People are upset that I am leaving, but I want my customers to know I tried to stay in Palos Heights,” owner Jean Whitney said.
Take Me Home is now moving into its new home in the storefront formerly occupied by the Mole Hole, 9664 W. 131st St.
Whitney first opened Take Me Home almost four years ago next to Capri Ristorante Italiano on Harlem Avenue in Palos Heights. Take Me Home sells jewelry, purses, accents and accessories and other gift items designed and crafted by independent artisans.
“I’m excited that I found a place where there will be walk-by traffic. It will be a great move with Jewel and Sandburg High School right there. Not one customer has said that they won’t follow me over there. It’s only three miles away, which is nice,” Whitney said of her new store site in Mill Creek.
A 17-year Palos Heights resident, Whitney lives just blocks from her former storefront on Harlem. High rents and the lack of parking in the Harlem Avenue central business district of Palos Heights, however, prevented her from finding a suitable new home in her own hometown.
“The problem is that the landlords in Palos Heights, especially along Harlem Avenue, have the same prices as other places that are in much higher traffic areas,” Whitney said. “The logistics of parking on Harlem Avenue is a handicap. Also, the age of the buildings, the look of the buildings, Harlem Avenue is starting to go down, it’s starting to deteriorate,” Whitney said. “They [the landlords] think it’s a prime area, but it’s not a prime retail area.”
Whitney said as a Palos Heights resident who is passionate about her community, it is hard to watch.
