New owner wants to bring Sam's Club back to Rolling Meadows

Sam's Club - which closed its Rolling Meadows store along Golf Road in 2010 - has a new owner who hopes to bring the wholesale retailer back to same space next year with a new focus on business customers.

Investor Gus Dahleh, of Burr Ridge, purchased the 15-acre Wal-Mart and former Sam's Club properties in September for $24.3 million and has been working to bring the site back to life.

Although the Sam's Club closed more than five years ago, parent company Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has continued to pay $200,000 in rent each month for the two spaces in a lease that expires in 2020 with six 5-year extension options.

On Tuesday, Dahleh said he just got back from meeting with corporate leaders in Arkansas where he is working to get Wal-Mart Stores to extend the lease and move back into the vacant space.

Dahleh said the new store would be a Sam's Club for Business model that is still in development, but will look to compete with the Costco Business Center in Bedford Park and that it will likely reopen by mid-2016.

Costco Business Centers are open to all customers, but are more focused on members who operate small businesses in the office, janitorial, convenience store or restaurant space.

But, Dianna Gee, spokeswoman for Sam's Club, said no decisions have been made yet and that it's too early to get excited about a new store.

"It's really premature and it's not part of the plan right now," Gee said. "We are always listening to communities and evaluating sites."

Before Sam's Club closed, the two stores were the biggest sales tax generator in Rolling Meadows, he said.

Dahleh said he has been working with city officials who are eager to see Sam's Club reopen and the Wal-Mart stay in place. He said they have already discussed adding gas station to the site.

"The city is pushing really hard on this because it is such a busy corridor," Dahleh said. "We are confident that we are going to get the deal finalized with Wal-Mart and Sam's Club to help them become a driver for the city of Rolling Meadows and the future of the area."

The Sam's Club vacancy has been one of the more noticeable empty spaces in Rolling Meadows for the past few years along with the former Dominick's along Kirchoff Road.

"We're simply excited to see what a motivated owner can do over there," said Mayor Tom Rooney. "It's certainly one of our sore spots, so everyone in town would be very happy to see some real movement."

The 130,000-square-foot Wal-Mart would also under go a "major store remodel" next year, but will remain open during construction, Dahleh said.

Dahleh's company owns more than 1 million square feet of retail and commercial real estate space in the Chicago area.