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the wilmette beacon | October 11, 2018 | 21
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From WilmetteBeacon.com as of Oct. 8
From the Editor
What if Mack had bought Jordan’s place
1. Update: Former Loyola Academy teacher
under investigation for ‘alleged internet
crimes against children’
2. Update: Closing Treasure Island
Foods being sued by produce supplier,
employee union
3. ‘Mayor of Wilmette Avenue’ remembered
for kindness, generosity to local canines
4. Regina Dominican graduate pens
children’s book
5. ‘Rock of Ages’ transports Wilmette actors
to 1980s
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Eric DeGrechie
eric@wilmettebeacon.com
Every week in our
paper, we recap recent
home sales in
Wilmette and Kenilworth
as part of our Going Rate
feature. Like many North
Shore communities, there
are always an abundance
of properties being bought
and sold.
In addition, each week
we also run our Home of
the Week, which showcases
a particular property
and our various real estate
companies rotate homes
to showcase throughout
the year.
Readers of our sister
paper, The Glencoe Anchor,
may have noticed a
special real estate transaction
recently. Khalil
Mack, the star outside
linebacker of the Chicago
Bears, reportedly purchased
a $3.75 million
home in Glencoe. The
purchase of the six-bedroom,
6,100-square-foot
newly built mansion came
on the heels of Mack, 27,
signing a six-year, $141
million contract extension
with the Bears. Mack was
acquired by Chicago from
the Oakland Raiders in a
trade just prior to the start
of the current NFL season.
Soon after I started
working in the North Shore
back in 2014, locals started
telling me about Michael
Jordan’s former home in
Highland Park. Jordan and
his wife at the time moved
into the custom-designed
home in 1995. They would
raise their children there
until a 2006 divorce.
Jordan’s property
at 2700 Point Drive is
30,000-square feet. He
listed it for $29 million
in 2012. At press time for
this story, the unsold home
was listed at $14.9 million
according to Zillow.com.
Many articles have been
written over the years
about why the property
hasn’t sold. With a large
front gate decorated with
Jordan’s No. 23 on it, the
property is hard to miss
when you drive by the area.
Though I’m sure Mack
is pleased with his mansion,
wouldn’t it have been
interesting if he had bought
Jordan’s house instead?
Though Mack has a long
way to go before even being
mentioned in the same
breath as Jordan — a likely
insurmountable feat — he
sure is off to a great start
building his Chicago sports
legacy.
Regina Dominican High School posted this
photo on Oct. 3 with the caption:
“On Wednesday’s we wear pink” -junior Nicolette
Anichini and teacher Mrs. Stenson.
#meangirlsday #October3rd”
Like The Wilmette Beacon: facebook.com/wilmettebeacon
“Thanks to the outstanding work of @
NTStrength, the boys are getting stronger
in preparation for the upcoming season. @
ntboosterclub @NewTrier203”
@NTBBB, NT Boys Hoops, posted on Oct.
4
Follow The Wilmette Beacon: @wilmettebeacon
go figure
400K
An intriguing number from this week’s edition
Amount Treasure
Island Foods is being
sued for by produce
company, Page 3
Jacoby
From Page 20
including Ridge Crest.
Leo hired architect
Jens J. Jensen to design
Ridge Crest. This “Jens
Jensen” wasn’t the famous
landscape architect, but
he was, in his own right,
a prominent Chicago architect
who, among other
commissions, designed
supermarkets for Jewel
Tea and other grocers.
I suspect that the first
tenant of Ridge Crest’s
grocery store was chosen
long before construction
began, but the choice
wasn’t publicized until
October 1956, shortly
before the store opened.
An ad in the Chicago
Tribune announced the
“bewitching news” that
a “new Wilmette store at
911 Ridge Avenue” would
be “opening soon!” It’s
name? “Sure Save Food
Marts”. Sure Save was
then a chain of six Chicago
stores founded in 1947 by
George Kokalis and his
three nephews: George,
Frank and Christ Kamberos.
Kokalis was a native
of Greece who came to
Chicago in 1921 at age 12
and started a produce business
six years later.
In 1961, the Sure Save
chain, having grown to
eleven stores, was sold to
the much larger National
Tea chain. Kokalis briefly
ran the Sure Save stores
for National, but in
1965, most of the stores,
including the one at Ridge
Crest, were rebranded as
National stores.
Meanwhile, the Kamberos
brothers and two other
partners started a new
venture -- Treasure Island
Foods. Their first store
opened in 1963 at 3460 N.
Broadway, Chicago. Over
the years, the chain grew
to seven stores that succeeded
by selling a wide
variety of specialty and
foreign food products not
available at larger chains.
One link in the Treasure
Island chain was the store
at Ridge Crest. National
abandoned this store in
the mid-1960s, and Christ
Kamberos, then living in
Wilmette, leased it and
established “The Magazi”
(Greek for “store”),
featuring Greek, English,
and Japanese specialties;
homemade sausages; and
fresh fruits and vegetables.
Within a couple of years,
the store was brought under
the “Treasure Island”
umbrella. In 2010, the
Kamberos family purchased
the entire Ridge
Crest Shopping Center.
The family faced some
difficult competitive and
legal challenges over the
years, but Treasure Island
survived -- until now. The
family also contributed to
the Wilmette community
by donating generously
to a food pantry, employing
local teenagers, and
sponsoring youth sports
teams. To me, it’s sad
that this inspiring story of
hard work and creativity
is ending with loss and
litigation.
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