Arlington Heights loses furniture store

Swing by Factory Direct Furniture at 750 E. Rand Road in Southpoint Mall before it's gone.

The discount store will close for good at the end of the month after being at Rand and Palatine roads for three years, said owner Sue D'Eccliss, office manager of the Arlington Heights location.

Blame it on the economy. And local taxes.

"I have asked the mayor's office for help with this deserted mall," D'Eccliss told me via e-mail. "Advertising got to be way out of line and our budget could not handle it and I had to let all of our sales people go except one. Now, we will be closing this store which is very sad. But, one good thing came out of this, we have our other store in Libertyville called DAZ Furniture at 801 E. Park Ave. and this will help our customers out, the taxes are only 7 percent versus 9.75 percent in Arlington Heights."

Happy anniversary to Yanni's

Yanni's Greek Restaurant in Arlington Heights is hosting a weeklong party to celebrate its 10th anniversary that will include live music, a wine-tasting and a drawing for a trip to Greece for two.

The party starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, with a cooking class featuring Yanni's executive chef, Charles Bowman. The event is free and open to the public. There will be free food, wine and live Greek music from 5 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and a Greek wine-tasting on Thursday. Specials and live music will continue through Friday.

Yanni's is at 10 E. Algonquin Road at Algonquin and Arlington Heights roads.

For more information, go to yannis-restaurant.com.