Rainbow Cone, Steinhafels Furniture Coming To Orland Park

ORLAND PARK, IL — Two major retailers, including a popular Chicago ice cream staple, will be coming to Orland Park after the Village Council approved measures that will allow the two businesses to take over spaces in the village on Monday night.

Rainbow Cone is slated to open a storefront in the former Baker’s Square restaurant at 15711 Harlem Ave. as the retailer that opened its first shop in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood continues its expansion.

Rainbow Cone partnered with Buona Beef and has opened locations around the greater Chicago area with both brands having space in each location. Developers who spoke at Monday’s meeting did not specify if the Orland Park location would provide both offerings or if it would be a free-standing ice cream shop.

Developers said they hope to open before summer next year to accommodate the traditionally busy time for ice cream shops.

The new location will include a drive-thru window and will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day once it opens. The developer said Monday night that it will be removing 1,550 square feet of the existing building to make room for the wrap-around drive-thru portion of Rainbow Cone.

The developer will also be adding an outdoor patio to the space for Rainbow Cone, which board members said they were excited about once it is able to open at the Harlem Avenue location.

The village board also approved the addition of Wisconsin-based furniture retailer Steinhafels, which will open a 97,000-square-foot store in the space formerly taken up in the Orland Place shopping center occupied by Bed Bath and Beyond and Steinmart.

“This is really important for the village,” Mayor Keith Pekau said during Monday’s meeting. “Obviously, these large spaces get very, very challenging to fill.”

He added: “Let’s face it, the pool of companies that can actually move into these spaces since they’re already here is very, very small.”

Steinhafels will benefit from a sales tax sharing agreement of up to $2 million as part of the project. Company officials said that they plan to spend more than $8.6 million on improvements to the building and indicated that in addition to the Orland Place location, the furniture retailer will also be opening a distribution center in Bolingbrook.

The business hopes to open in early 2024 and will begin construction on the site in May of next year.

Pekau said that Orland Park is already the auto row for the state and, with the addition of Steinhafels will become the furniture row for the state. In addition to the coming business, other furniture retailers in Orland Park include Ashley Furniture, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Darvin Furniture, Penny Mustard and Walter E. Smithe.

Trustees said at Monday’s meeting that they believe Steinhafels will be “very satisfied” in the village, which boasts a lot of people buying and selling homes.