GFS MARKETPLACE OPENS NILES STORE -New Store is Thirteenth in Chicagoland area

The GFS Marketplace located at Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles will officially open with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The event will take place at 10:00 a.m. at the store located at 50 Golf Mill Center in Niles. Local city officials and GFS Marketplace company executives will take part in the festivities.

GFS Marketplace is a foodservice store where restaurant owners and consumers can shop without membership and purchase quality items at excellent prices. In March of this year, GFS Marketplace opened a store in Schaumburg. The Niles store will be the 13th GFS Marketplace store in the Chicagoland area.

“We are excited to continue our expansion into the Illinois market with the opening of our thirteenth GFS Marketplace store and believe that the Niles community is a good fit for our company,” said Jay Zylstra, President. “In addition, we take pride in the fact that our customers, from businesses, to organizations to family shoppers, can shop here for quality products with the benefit of no membership fee.”

The store will officially open on Monday, Oct. 17. GFS Marketplace will celebrate its new location with a week of grand opening festivities Oct. 17 through Oct. 22. There will be food tastings each day and shoppers can enter for a chance to win $200, $300, and $500 shopping sprees. Shoppers will have an opportunity to sample some of GFS Marketplace’s most popular items at their Giant Taste Fest which will be held on Friday and Saturday of that week.

GFS Marketplace is invested in the communities it serves. At the ribbon cutting GFS Marketplace will present a $1,000 donation to the Main-Niles Association of Special Recreation (M-NASR). M-NASR is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children, teens and adults with physical, mental and emotional disabilities by providing quality therapeutic recreational programs. Therapeutic recreation is a professional service which uses "recreation" as a treatment and education modality. This service helps people with disabilities exercise their right to a lifestyle that focuses on functional independence and well-being in clinical, residential and community settings.

The new location will employ approximately 35 people. Among the new employees is an experienced management team with expertise in the food service industry. The team includes: Bruce Glickson, Store Manager; Assistant Managers Debra Housewerth and Craig Butler; and Jerry Nalywajko, Shift Leader. GFS Marketplace will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

About GFS Marketplace
Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Gordon Food Service is the largest family owned distributor of foodservice products to restaurants, schools and good service operators in the country. Its GFS Marketplace Stores, which began in 1979, offer products and services for a broad range of customers; including restaurants, caterers, schools and daycares, churches and non-profit organizations, families and more. There are currently 148 GFS Marketplace stores throughout Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin.