Grand Appliance and TV Opens Today

Grand Appliance and TV will be in business in Forest Park starting at 10 a.m. this morning at 7440 W. Madison St.

The showroom will sell major appliances, running the gamut from starters to high-end professional grade refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and other items. TVs are also available there.

Major renovations have been taking place for about the past five months, said Michael Ciok, the store manager. Workmen were in the store on Wednesday morning, applying the final touches.

"The brick walls and floors are the only things that remain (of the old store)," said Ciok, who called it now a brand-new, 100-year-old building.

The chain began considering opening in Forest Park shortly after Trage Bros. a long-standing appliance store abruptly closed its doors in 2009. Issues arose over the months afterward. Trage had been a fixture on Madison Street since the 1940s.

A local sales tax rebate of $300,000 over 10 years to Grand Appliance helped attract the chain to Forest Park, according to the Forest Park Review.  The deal had been in the works for months.

Forest Park is the 14th location of Grand Appliance, which has been in business since 1930.

Store hours will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

The grand opening is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4.