The strip mall in front of the abandoned Mohr Concrete property once housed a variety of businesses, but now sits mostly empty except for a flock of birds and a business refusing to give up.
Sanjay Lal has owned and operated True Discount, a convenience store at 1155 Garfield St., for about 16 years. Since the historical concrete facility closed permanently in 2018, the store has taken a hit. Lal said the business is “just struggling” and “it’s very hard because it is all empty and I’m just by myself.”
Lola Tining’s Cuisine, a Filipino restaurant on the property, is still open but only operates on the weekends for limited hours.
Redeveloping the property has been at the forefront of conversations for some years as it is one of the largest contiguous parcels of land available in the village. Plans for a new QuickTrip gas station were proposed, but ultimately rejected last year while the property was owned by KrohVan.
KrohVan and the Mohr family were locked in a foreclosure lawsuit since October 2024, and the Mohr family has recently regained ownership, according to Karen Richards, daughter of Dot and Bud Mohr.
Richards said that she speaks to Lal and encourages True Discount to remain in its current storefront.
“They clean up the shopping center and stuff when there’s garbage and everything, they are really nice about that,” said Richards.
Lal is still stuck in the uncertainty of business as future development plans continue to be explored, but he says he has hope.
“I’m just waiting here all this time because if somebody comes and …wants to do development, we have no idea if he wants to continue this, then I can stay. But if he wants to develop something else, then I have no choice,” said Lal. “Change is always the nature of Mother Nature, change will come, you just have to have patience.”
John Melaniphy, assistant village manager of economic vitality, explained that the store’s ability to remain in its location will be up to the owners of the property, possible new developers and the store based on the terms of the existing lease. The village does, however, have tools to assist in relocation through CoStar, a real estate information company.
“We could provide assistance in identifying a suitable location that meets their site selection criteria,” said Melaniphy. “We can run customized reports of what is currently available in Oak Park and what square footage and who the owners are.”