MOUNT GREENWOOD — BZ Quick Mart in Mount Greenwood has agreed to close for three weeks and pay a $7,500 fine for a violation commonly associated with the sale of illegal cigarettes, said Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th).
O'Shea said that the gas station and convenience store at 10301 S. Kedzie Ave. had been issued violations four separate occasions last year — all of which included failure to open the store's safe within 30 minutes.
The alderman said its common for stores selling unstamped cigarettes to keep them in the safe. Then, certain customers use a code word when buying cigarettes, tipping off the vendor that they are interested in buying the illegal products, O'Shea said.
"Illegal cigarettes are being sold, and it is costing the city hundreds of thousands — perhaps millions — of dollars," O'Shea said on Wednesday. He suspected that the store owner opted not to open the safe rather than get caught red-handed.
Besides failing to open the safe each time inspectors arrived, the convenience store was also ticketed for several other violations along the way:
• On Aug. 11, the store was ticketed for failure to notify the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection of a change in the business' name and for charging a higher tax on certain items.
• On Oct. 8, the store was ticketed for selling items individually that are not labeled for individual sale.
• On Nov. 3, it was ticketed for failure to post a warning sign about minors buying certain products.
• On Dec. 23, it was ticketed again for failure to notify the city of a name change.
"They have been a bad operator for some time," O'Shea said, adding that the settlement signed on Monday began with multiple complaints to O'Shea's office as well as with city inspectors.
The convenience store agreed to pay the fine by Feb. 29 and to close from Feb. 15-March 7, the settlement states.
O'Shea said the store has been on his radar for about two years. In an email to constituents on Tuesday evening, he also pointed to a 2014 case against the store that was settled for $12,000.
"Businesses like this need to fall in line, or the city is going to come after them," O'Shea said.
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