A Collection of Small Business Profiles

We profiled four different Skokie based businesses in November: Jack's Restaurant, Kaufman's Deli, Dengeos and American Hoarders. If you missed them, now's the chance to check out how these owners became their own boss.

Last month, we profiled four Skokie small businesses, some of which were nominated from our readers via our Facebook page. We thoguht we'd put that collection together in one piece. The profiles look at the journey each small business owner took to becoming their own boss.  A beloved deli - With Kaufman's facing their first grand opening in several decades, we decided to profile them first.   Kaufman’s started a new chapter in the store’s history about one year following the fire that destroyed the Dempster Street store. The new era for the deli and bakery is reopened its doors on Nov. 5. “It has changed me,” Dworkin said reflecting on the past year. “It has given me a tremendous dose of not being in control of my world. It forced me to be…

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Small Business Saturday

Dengeos is as 'Main Street' as it Gets

Nick Theodosis, owner of the ever so busy Dengeos' Restaurant, was destined to run his family business - a Skokie institution since the early 1970s.

For so many 20 somethings, those first few years out of college can be confusing ones. But that wasn’t the case for Nick Theodosis. Theodosis, 34, is the general manager of Dengeos, the Skokie institution that has been serving up gyros, half chicken sand other dishes since 1972. Theodosis went to Loyola Academy, graduated from Glenbrook South High School, and took courses at both Kendall College and UIC. By the age of 22, he was running the family business. There was no Plan B in the cards for Nick Theodosis. Given his background he was destined to run a restaurant. “I always had a passion for cooking and restaurants,” he said. “It was a product of my environment.” He is part of a family dynasty. His dad and two uncles are still involved …

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