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ForestParkReview.com Vol. 108, No. 31
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REVIEW
BEST SSMALL WEEKLY WEE NEWSPAPER NEWS ILLINOIS IN ILL
Davis retires, endorses Ford
AUGUST 6, 2025
PAGE 4
Old School Records moves to Maywood following rent disputes
Village projects $15M deficit in fiscal year 2026
The store closes after 22 years in Forest Park
Staff and council discuss ways to increase revenue and reduce spending
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
On Friday, July 25, Peter Gianakopoulos, owner of Old School Records, packed up his inventory in cardboard boxes that covered most of the floor at 413 Des Plaines Ave. Following a legal battle with his landlord, Jack Zayed, and 22 years of selling music in Forest Park, Gianakopoulos moved out that weekend and into a storefront at 709 S. 5th Ave. in Maywood. As of Aug. 1, he said he was still negotiating with the new landlord over his lease, for which he put down a four-month deposit, and is hoping to open on Sept. 1. “I’m sad to leave Forest Park but hoping to make things better for Maywood because they don’t have a record store now. They haven’t for a long time,” Gianakopoulos said, adding that Reimer Records in Maywood closed a couple decades ago. Before launching Old School Records, Gianakopoulos worked at a 2nd Hand Tunes store in Hyde Park, which he said was the highest performing of the company’s stores. When he moved to the Oak Park 2nd Hand Tunes, he said that it be-
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
on Madison Street, Gianakopoulos said he was paying $1,400 a month for rent. By the time he moved to the Des Plaines
Forest Park staff budgeted for a $9 million deficit for fiscal year 2025, which wrapped on April 30. Though the village still has a few bills to account for and hasn’t yet completed its audit, that number was down a bit after ending the 2024 fiscal year with a total deficit of $11 million. But in fiscal year 2026, spanning from May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2026, the village expects $49 million in revenue and $63 million in expenditures, or a $15.4 million deficit. The projection came as a part of the village’s appropriation process for the current fiscal year, when commissioners annually vote to establish legal spending limits for the village. After a budgeting discussion on July 28, commissioners unanimously passed the appropriation ordinance for the upcoming fiscal year at the village council meeting that same evening.
See RECORDS on page 10
See BUDGET on page 3
JESSICA MORDACQ
Peter Gianakopoulos, packed and ready to move his Old School Records store. came the location with the best sales. Gianakopoulos first opened Old School Records on Madison Street with his thenwife in 2003 and largely relocated because of rising rent. When he launched
IN Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 THIS ISSUE Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
John Rice: Keeping small newspapers alive PAGE 12