Jimmy John's moving from Buffalo Grove Town Center to new location

Jimmy John's, a longtime tenant of Buffalo Grove's Town Center, is moving to the soon-to-open Ricky Rockets fuel center just a short trip down Lake-Cook Road.

The restaurant served its last sandwich at the Town Center on Saturday. On Tuesday, a U-Haul truck was backed up to the location at 182 McHenry Road, as owners prepared to relocate about 1½ miles east on Lake-Cook.

Jimmy John's first opened at the Town Center in 2003, said co-owner Jim Tamkin. Jim's late father, Michael Tamkin, and his mother, Verna Tamkin, took over in 2006. Today, Jim, Jim's sister, Alana Dietz, and his mother run the business.

The family has seen the Town Center through its ups and downs over the years and a number of changes in the tenant mix.

But now that Kensington Development Partners is redeveloping the shopping center into a mixed-use project to be called The Clove, the section where Jimmy John's is located is facing demolition.

Tamkin said developers offered a location near the Giordano's pizza restaurant, but they declined.,

"I was seeking a drive-through opportunity, which is what we found down the road," he said.

"We have been working on the lease for a while," Tamkin added. "We finalized that a couple of weeks ago."

Tamkin said he is excited about the move.

"Town Center has been good to us. We have got a lot of loyal customers, but it has been a mall that has kind of been fading for whatever reasons," he said. "The drive-through is a big plus."

Under the best-case scenario, the restaurant will reopen in November, he said. But there is a possibility it could be delayed until the start of 2023.

"I'm hoping that November is the time, but with all these supply-chain issues and all these random things that you don't expect to be delayed, I'm being realistic," he said.