'Always Open' Closes for Good: Owner Gives Back Store's Licenses

The owner of a troubled convenience store at the corner of Oak Park Avenue and 183rd Street surrendered his business, liquor and cigarette licenses to the village Monday, almost a month after the shop was cited for numerous violations and the manager was implicated in a fencing ring, according to a village press release.

Without those licenses, Tinley Family Food and Liquor, which at various times has gone under the name Always Open and Tinley 24/Seven, can no longer operate in Tinley Park. The store has been closed since late February, and the building, which is not owned by the store owner, is being foreclosed.

READ: Police Bust Fencing Ring at Village Convenience Store

“The village is pleased that the license situation was resolved amicably and without the need for both parties to take the matter to court,” Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki said in a press release.

A license revocation hearing was scheduled Friday, but the village gave Saeed Judah, the Orland Park resident who owned the store, the option of voluntarily relinquishing them, Zabrocki said in an interview Wednesday.

Judah said he initially purchased the business about year and a half ago as an investment. Soon after, Judah's father contracted brain cancer, and he spent his time caring for him until his recent death, Judah said.

"I couldn't do it all," Judah said. "It was my father's health or the store, and I couldn't be at the store."

READ: Tinley Closes 'Always Open' Store for Booze Sales

After handling his father's affairs (he had to travel to the Middle East to take care of the estate), Judah said he no longer felt owning the store was right for him, especially owning one that sold alcohol, given his Muslim beliefs.

Judah also said he was unaware of any of the alleged criminal activity that Tinley Park Police and other law enforcement agencies have connected with the store. Zabrocki also emphasized Wednesday the separation between the issue of the store licenses and that of the criminal investigation.

Kamal M. Mashni, 55, of the 7700 block of West 162nd Place, was charged Feb. 20 with four counts of felony theft and two counts of misdemeanor theft for allegedly buying stolen cigarettes, alcohol, baby formula, over-the-counter drugs and designer purses. The store also was cited for multiple health code violations by the Tinley Park Health and Consumer Protection Office.

The arrest was part of an investigation that began in November of 2012 between Tinley police, Illinois State Police, the Illinois Department of Revenue, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Cook County Regional Organized Crime Task Force.

"Absolutely not, absolutely not, absolutely not," Judah, who doesn't face criminal charges, said when asked if he had any knowledge of Mashni's alleged activities. "I was not aware of it, and I don't condone it. I hope they make the charges stick. That just makes me look bad.

"I don't have a relationship with that guy anymore," he added.

But those charges and health violations are without merit, Mashni said, adding he and the store have been unfairly targeted by village officials over the years.

"They don't have nothing on me. They have nothing," he said. "Let me ask you a question? If you have a charge on me, why would you go shut down the store?… Those charges don't exist."

READ: New Owner Possible for 'Worst Convenience Store We Have'

Mashni was hired as manager about four years ago by the store's previous owner, Dean Capser, a Community Consolidated School District 146 board member. When Judah bought the store in 2011, Mashni stayed on as manager.

During Mashni's employment, the convenience store has run afoul of the village on a few occasions. The store was temporarily closed two years ago after violating a suspended liquor license order by the village, an order it received after being cited for selling to a minor. It was cited again for selling alcohol to underage customers in June of 2012. .

Since his arrest, Mashni began protesting what he says are improper actions by village officials by posting large, yellow signs on the windows of Tinley Family Food and Liquor, as well as along Oak Park Avenue. The signs are particularly critical of Zabrocki, reading, "Time for a New Mayor" and "Tinley Park is Out of Date and Expired," a reference to the store being cited for selling expired food (Mashni denies this).

Mashni said he has ordered 5,000 more signs and plans to post them throughout Tinley Park.

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