Champaign dry cleaner operators longing to retire
Aug. 22—Novel and Grace Hong came to the U.S. from South Korea in the 1970s looking for opportunities, and they found one in their Champaign dry cleaning business.
Nearly four decades later, they're ready to retire.
Their business, Denny's Professional Cleaners and Coin Launderers at 1205 S. Mattis Ave., is for sale for $150,000, not including the building, Grace Hong said.
It was listed with a Realtor for about a year, she said, and now it's listed via a sign in the shop's front window.
The dry cleaning business hit a rough patch earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic when people were staying home more and going to their workplaces less, Hong said, but it's picked back up again as more people have returned to work.
Grace Hong said she and her husband were married in South Korea. He came to the U.S. first and then she joined him.
They've lived in Champaign for 40 years and have owned the shop for 39 years. It began as a franchise of the former Denny's Professional Cleaners & Launderers that closed three other locations in 2006.
At 79, Grace Hong said she's putting in 15-hour days at the shop, seven days a week. Her husband is 86, she said.
Their son and daughter helped out when they were younger, she said, but neither live in the local community any more, Grace Hong said. Her son is a minister living in Chicago and her daughter is a chef and restaurant recruiter in California.
With the rest of her family in South Korea, Grace Hong said she wants to go there for a visit when she and her husband can retire. That, and see their kids more.
Meanwhile, she's pulling off her long days on the job with the help of God, Grace Hong said.
"God help us. God strengthen us; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do this," she said.
New bank executive
Busey Bank has named Joseph Sheils its new executive vice president and president of consumer and digital banking.
Sheils has worked in banking for 25 years, with more than a decade spent in commercial banking and serving as head of retail for more than seven years at MB Financial, according to Busey.
He has seasoned expertise in consumer and small business strategy, call center management, retail operations, deposit and income growth, product development and enhancing digital options, according to Busey.
Sheils is a native of Chicago. He got an undergraduate degree from Loyola University Chicago and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
On the move
The Christie Clinic Sleep Center has moved from its formerly leased space at 1207 S. Mattis Ave., C to the third floor of the main clinic in downtown Champaign.
The sleep center is now in the space formerly occupied by the infusion center that has moved to Christie Clinic at the Fields, according to sleep center manager Melissa Eaton
The relocation of the infusion center created space for the sleep center where it can be near other specialties such as neurology and pulmonary medicine that often collaborate on patient care, she said.
All services of the sleep center, including overnight sleep studies, remain the same, Eaton said.
