Full EXPOsure

Southtown Star:

Standing next to a tower of colorful balloons inside the Tinley Park Convention Center on Tuesday, Joyce Gruberman was frustrated.

The co-owner of Chuck’s House of Magic was having to explain to visitors at the Business to Business Expo that yes, the Homewood costume and novelty shop is still around.

It was four years ago this Halloween that a fire destroyed the store. Gruberman and her husband, Chuck, reopened the business in 2005 in a storefront a few blocks away.

“The fire was so big and it (the story) hit so many media outlets because it was on Halloween night,” she said. “There are a lot of people who still don’t know we are still in business.”

Like the dozens of other businesses exhibiting at the third annual expo, Chuck’s knows the exposure can bring in new customers.

“I want to do more expos to meet with people,” Gruberman said, noting she was “sorry” she hadn’t been an exhibitor at the first two Business to Business shows.

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