Photos Hotdogs in Palatine to honor closed eatery's gift cards
Though Angelo Spiezia of Mount Prospect was saddened to learn the new owners of the Photos Hotdogs location in his village had closed shop last week, he soon found a silver lining in the original owner's commitment to honor outstanding gift cards at his Palatine restaurant.
The decision is especially admirable because there's been no true affiliation between the two businesses for a couple of years, Spiezia said.
"How about that for a business owner to go above and beyond the call of duty!" he said. "Class move and class operation through and through."
Spiezia had reloaded his gift card with a $200 payment back in October and still had $110 left on it when he saw the notice of the restaurant's closing on its door Feb. 3.
When his son called Photos Hotdogs in Palatine, however, he was assured the gift cards would be honored there.
Original owner Jim Photopoulos said his business experience has proved to him that the goodwill and customer loyalty built by giving things away for free keep it from being a huge sacrifice.
He started the original location at 1706 E. Kensington Road in Mount Prospect in 1989 and opened the still-running operation at 301 N. Northwest Highway in Palatine in 2004.
Photopoulos owned both for several years, but he sold the Mount Prospect location to his longtime business partner about five years ago. That partner then sold it to the most recent owners just over two years ago.
The recent owners were likely hampered by their lack of restaurant experience, Photopoulos said. The sale was made on the condition the buyer could keep the name for 2½ years, but Photopoulos admitted to having been a little nervous about others having that tenuous link to his own business through the intervening time.
While Spiezia gives full credit to Photopoulos for making a success of both locations, he said the last owner of the Mount Prospect site seemed sincere in his desire to maintain it.
"He seemed like a good guy and that he was trying to keep it open," Spiezia said.
That owner could not be reached for comment Friday.