Home Owners Bargain Outlet, also known as HOBO, has reportedly signed a lease for the former Kmart store in the Forest Park Plaza mall.
“We’ve been told they are coming,” Village Administrator Tim Gillian said, adding that few details of the deal, such as when the store might open, have been made public.
The 98,000-square-foot property at 7630 Roosevelt Road has been vacant since the Kmart store closed in December 2014, leaving over 100 employees out of work.
HOBO offers a range of products and services for homes. It serves homeowners and contractor professionals and provides various flooring options, doors and kitchen sinks.
The company receives truckloads of various merchandise every day. It offers a variety of faucets, indoor and outdoor lighting items, toys, painting accessories and heaters. Home Owners Bargain Outlet also provides ladders and scaffolding and electronics items. The company operates furniture, electrical, flooring, seasonal goods, and hardware and tools departments.
HOBO, which has been in business since 1992, operates stores in Milwaukee and the Chicago area. It specializes in getting factory-direct deals and closeouts.
Bridget Lane of Business Districts Inc. of Evanston, the village’s economic development consultant, told village officials at the Oct. 24 village council meeting that a lease was pending.
