Business aims to help young athletes 'get better'
Former NFL player J.R. Niklos admits he was the second slowest kid on his freshman high school football team.
“I was a short little chubby kid,” said Niklos, who was determined to pick up speed. Ahead of his time about 20 years ago, he found a sports performance center long before they were the in thing.
“I wanted to get better,” he said.
The athlete, who grew up in Ohio, worked and trained hard. He went to Ohio State University on a track scholarship, played football and was drafted as a free agent in 2001 with the Seattle Seahawks. When Niklos left football in 2007, he said he was known as the fastest fullback in the NFL.
Niklos and business partner Nick DeMars are now trying to help young athletes in this area train and “get better” on the athletic field.
The men recently opened the Academy of Athletic Advancement at 355 E. State Parkway in Schaumburg, a sister facility to Acceleration Sports Performance in Naperville.
Niklos, director at the new business, caters to athletes aged 8 to 18, utilizing a progression-based training program that he followed in the NFL.
The training regimen places a heavy focus on speed. “I wasn't the best football player, but I was faster than everyone else,” said Niklos, 31.
Best of both worlds
After many years of marriage, a long-distance relationship works for Lake Zurich business owner Rose DePaola. The owner of Couture Three Sixty upscale salon puts in 12 to 14 hours a day growing the new business.
Her husband, Ken, puts in similar hours as senior vice president of sales and marketing at The Wall Street Journal in Manhattan.
The couple, who raised their family in Lake Zurich, work during the week and spend time on the weekends together at their home in Kildeer or on the East Coast. “I like New York,” said DePaola, former co-owner of Salon Coccole on Rand Road.
“We're both so busy,” Rose said. “And after being married 30 years, the arrangement really works well,” she said.
Clipping coupons
If you're into coupons, the new Mariano's Fresh Market in Arlington Heights doubles manufacturers' coupons every Wednesday and Saturday. Shoppers can double up to five coupons of less than $1 each per shopping trip.
A buck
Speaking of saving money, the recession has prompted more people to shop at dollar stores.
Dollar General Corp. recently announced plans to open 625 new stores and hire more than 6,000 workers in 2011.
The stores have gained market share from competitors such as Walmart, as consumers count pennies because of high unemployment and the uncertain economy.
Shorts weather?
Frigid temperatures don't stop Dan Beelow from sporting what he likes to wear best — shorts.
The owner of the new Beelow's Steakhouse in Lake Zurich says he has only worn pants four times in the past seven years. “It just feels weird wearing pants,” he said with a laugh.
His attire of choice makes it easy for a customer who is looking to talk to the owner at the eatery that replaces Bennigan's on Rand Road. “People know me as the guy in shorts,” he jokes.
DivineSchaumburg resident and business owner Jeff Miller loves New Year's resolutions.
Miller made several after he survived one of the nation's worst airline disasters in commercial aviation history leaving 112 people dead in 1989.
Thanks to a little divine intervention, he is able to share his thoughts with a #8220;fresh dose of life-changing perspective.#8221; Miller was one of 183 passengers who survived the United flight that crashed in Sioux City, Iowa. The chunk of the plane where he was seated slid almost a mile from the crash site and Miller walked away without a scratch.
He has resolved the following:
#8226; There is a part of my life's direction that I cannot control... things happen. I believe that God has a plan for everyone's life.
#8226; There is a major portion of my life's direction I do not control. I now guide my life by the old adage, #8220;you become what you think about.#8221; If you think about negative things, you become a negative person. I look to make a positive and worthwhile contribution to every day by controlling my thoughts.
#8226; Let it Go and Move On. Forgiving is so freeing. So many people live a life of bitterness, anger, resentment #8212; all because they cannot forgive.
#8226; Love. I try to make a difference every day, showing compassion and random acts of kindness.
After the crash, Miller started his own business, Divine Signs and Graphics in Schaumburg. The company's name is symbolic of his survival of United Flight 232.