Rand's Hallmark Closing Today, Being Auctioned Tuesday

This story was written by Patch Editor Karen Sorensen

All six Rand's Hallmark stores, including the one on Larkin Avenue in Crest Hill, will close by day's end, employees confirmed Monday.

It's possible the stores will be assumed into the corporate Hallmark chain, purchased by another Hallmark franchise owner or independent buyer, or closed completely, said Val Rand, who no longer manages the business that bears his name but remains 80 percent invested. 

The stores are to be auctioned Tuesday.

"In this depression -- I call it a depression -- retail got hurt worse than anything," Rand said. "We lost 40 percent of our business in 2008."

The business, with stores at 1701 N. Larkin Ave. and in Oswego, Frankfort, Tinley Park, Lockport and Orland Hills, went into receivership and is now facing bankruptcy, he said. 

In the last five years, Rand and partner Gary Watland shut down several stores, including those in Romeoville and Naperville, and Rand was forced out of management of the chain two years ago when it was decided that there was not enough income to support both partner owners, he said.  

"I've lost my entire life savings," Rand said. "Everything I had is going to be claimed in this bankruptcy."

Rand, a Barrington native, came to Joliet in 1967 when he was employed by the Hallmark Co. and worked in the printing division, he said. He decided to open a Hallmark store as a franchise, and expanded from there, he said.

That they would be dealt such a devastating blow in the 2008 economic recession could not have been foreseen, Rand said. But the high-end card and gift industry is a luxury business when people need to cut back on their spending, he said.

Still, he is hopeful the stores will remain in business, either purchased by the Hallmark Co. and run as a corporate business or by another Hallmark franchise owner.

An employee at the Crest Hill location said the stores would be auctioned Tuesday, at which time workers will learn if they're completely out of a job or if someone else will step in and keep one or more of the stores going.

Rand, 74, has been an active part of the Joliet community for decades, and in recent years has been recognized with the 2010 Marx Gibson Community Leadership Award from the University of St. Francis and the 2012 Shooting Star Award from the Will-Grundy Center for Independent Living. 

He said he plans to remain involved in local activities, including the Joliet Job Corps, where he helps prepare students for job interviews.

"I want to go through (this phase of my life) positively," Rand said. "God's been very good to me. I keep asking God, what do you want me to do now?"