Politics & Government

Owner: Omega Restaurant Will Not Re-Open

Jim Stavropoulos said he plans to open a new restaurant in Schaumburg, sue village of Downers Grove.

It looks like  won't re-open after all—in Downers Grove, anyway.

Owner Jim Stavropoulos said he plans to move his business to Schaumburg—and sue the village of Downers Grove— after last week.

The village  after it failed to pay its water bill, which forced the restaurant to close. A shutoff occurs after a business misses several payment deadlines, Village Communication Director Doug Kozlowski said last week. 

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Stavropoulos said he was notified about an outstanding $8,500 water bill on May 11 that was the responsibility of a previous corporation and not his JJS Restaurant, Inc. He said he ultimately paid the bill only to be told on July 17 he had to pay another $6,000 for an outstanding bill dating back to 2007. Stavropoulos said he had seen neither bill before and that his usual water bill is roughly $1,000 a month.

Stavropoulos said on Friday that he felt the village was trying to extort him.

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"I'm not going to do business in a city and pay sales tax in a city that does nothing but try to hurt you," he said Monday. "After 37 years you'd think they'd help you, but not this village."

Stavropoulos said he is planning to sue the village over a variety of issues, including the water bill.

"The village went out of their way to put me out of business and I have proof," he said.

The village, however, maintains there is nothing unusual about how Stavropoulos has been treated.

"The bottom line is the village tries and continues to develop a proactive business climate throughout the community, especially on Ogden Avenue," Kozlowski said. "Restaurants in particular cannot operate without water and without electricity."

The village is one of many creditors Omega’s operator owes, he said. One of those alleged creditors is Commonwealth Edison, who has shut off electricity to Omega at least twice this year for failure to pay bills.

Stavropoulos filed a lawsuit against ComEd on July 6 alleging ComEd was at fault for "breach of contract" by "violating the provisions of the Illinois Public Utilities Act and the rules and regulations of the Illinois Commerce Commission" according to the filing. Among the violations listed in the filing:

• CECO (ComEd) failed to provide JJS (Omega) proper notice that CECO intended to disconnect power to Omega Restaurant for unpaid electrical service by prior customers.

• CECO failed to provide JJS proper notices of its intention to disconnect the power to the Omega Restaurant on the day it actually disconnected that service.

• Failed to provide JJS an accurate bill for the amount due for electrical service at the Omega Restaurant.

• Failed to engage in discussions with JJS concerning the claimed outstanding balance for electrical service at the Omega Restaurant and the means by which to collect that claimed outstanding balance.

John Schoen, spokesperson for ComEd, offered little comment.

"In matters like this, out of respect of privacy for our customers, we don't comment on the status of customer accounts," he said.

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On Friday, Stavropoulous still had intentions of re-opening in Downers Grove, provided he could work out his issues with ComEd and the village.

"[In order to re-open] I'd need to know what I owe ComEd and why, what I owe the village and why, and I want to be afforded the same respect as other businesses," he said.

By Monday, that decision had apparently changed.

In addition to planning on filing suit against the village, Stavropoulos said he intends to sue his previous partners who have become his landlord at Omega. While Stavropoulos is 99 percent certain his new restaurant will open in Schaumburg—he's not sure if it will be named Omega or not—hopefully within the next three weeks.

He's also pretty confident nothing will take Omega's place on Ogden any time soon.

"Anybody that goes into that property won’t be open any time soon either because I counter sued my ex-partners regarding ownership of the property," he said. "And, whoever goes in there will have to bring the place up to code, and infrastructure upgrades alone will cost $500,000."

Upon learning of the plan to not re-open Omega on Monday evening, Kozlowski reacted to the news on behalf of the village.

"It is unfortunate that the operator did not have success at this location, but perhaps this transition will provide someone with the opportunity for a fresh start," he said in an email.


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