The Biz Week That Was: Sears complex comes down, restaurant marks 50 years, residents opposing auto dealership among highlights

Demolition begins on mammoth Sears complex in Hoffman Estates

Demolition has begun on the 2.4 million square feet of office space that once served as Sears’ worldwide headquarters in Hoffman Estates. The campus served as the retail giant’s headquarters between the move from Chicago’s Sears Tower in the early 1990s until the company put the sprawling 273 acres up for sale in 2021. At its peak, the campus was home to about 9,000 employees.

‘This was his baby’: Sorrento’s celebrates 50 years of staying the course(s)

Nestled near a cornfield in far western Maple Park, Sorrento’s Restaurant has offered its customers pretty much the same experience for 50 years. And that’s just the way they like it. Guests are still served a three-course meal, servers hand-write their checks and hang them up on little clips for the kitchen staff. Bills are tabulated on a manual cash register from the 1950s.

Controversial business-residential development gets OK from Sugar Grove plan panel

A Sugar Grove planning panel has recommended the plans for the controversial The Grove housing, industrial and commercial development to be built at I-88 and Route 47. The Sugar Grove Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-2 Tuesday night to approve a planned development district and grant 38 variances from the village’s zoning code despite opposition from hundreds of people who attended a two-night meeting.

Raising Cane’s has the Midas touch in Mount Prospect

A long line of customers waited well before the doors were open Tuesday to get their hands on the first chicken fingers served at the new Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers in Mount Prospect. The location at 915 E. Rand Road has a new drive-through restaurant adorned with landscaping. Raising Cane’s, which began in 1994 and has more than 800 stores nationwide, has become a proven concept in the Northwest suburbs, with stores in Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Arlington Heights and now Mount Prospect.

Neighbors give Barrington auto dealership proposal the works

Neighbors of Motor Werks of Barrington are sounding off against a proposed expansion of the campus near the corner of Dundee Road and Grove Avenue. The village of Barrington is also pushing back against a retail/restaurant component of the plan.

World’s steepest dive coaster planned for Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America in Gurnee announced plans Thursday to debut a new a dive coaster next year featuring the world’s steepest drop and the most inversions. Wrath of Rakshasa, towering at 180 feet, features a cliffhanger hold that suspends riders as they face straight down a 96-degree, beyond-vertical drop, before they plummet 171 feet, Six Flags announced.