Regan Phillips had a sentimental attachment to the former Fat City Saloon left over from her days of working there while she was a University of Illinois student.

She hated to see it close a year and a half ago – so much that she and a partner decided to lease the building at 505 S. Chestnut St., C, and reopen it last month under a slightly different name, Fat City Bar & Grill.

Phillips of Riverside and Lance Davis of Urbana opened their new version of Fat City after completely remodeling it with cherry wood finishes, new tables and chairs, a new bar and flat-screen TVs.

The menu features the Friday fish sandwich that was popular at the old Fat City, plus "high-end" burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, soups, daily lunch specials and a large selection of domestic and imported beers, Phillips said.

The new owners are keeping the beer garden and will use it to host bands in the warm-weather months.

There will be occasional bands playing indoors during the winter, too, including next weekend for the grand opening, Phillips said.

The grand opening will be held Friday with a pre-party and buses to and from the UI Assembly Hall for the Rascal Flatts concert, with some free tickets to be given away. On Saturday evening, Candy Foster and Shades of Blue will perform starting at 9 p.m.

Regan said she and Davis hope the new Fat City will pull in both students and a Champaign-Urbana community crowd.

"It's a longstanding tradition in Champaign that we just wanted to see come back into the market," she added.

The new Fat City is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day.

Store to move

The Dena's Hallmark store at Lincoln Square will close during the last week of March and move to Savoy, the owner, Dena Gaudio, said.

There wasn't enough foot traffic at the Lincoln Square store to justify making the improvements that were needed at that location, she said.

"We did look at other Urbana locations, and Hallmark didn't approve any of those locations," she added. "We did try to stay within Urbana."

Gaudio said the Savoy store will be located between Schnucks and the Pages for All Ages location at Savoy Plaza (at the corner of U.S. 45 and Curtis Road) and open in early April. It will have the new Hallmark-store look, just like the Dena's Hallmark store at 55 E. Marketview Drive, C, she said.

"It will be much easier to shop, much more sophisticated," she said.

Mall updates

The Waldenbooks store in the Sears wing of Champaign's Market Place Mall closed. Its lease expired and wasn't renewed, mall manager Dennis Robertson said.

Coming up: The Zales jewelry store in the mall will move to two new spaces – the former Great American Cookie shop space that has been vacant for several months, and the current space of Jewelry Lab, which will move elsewhere in the mall. The two spaces adjoin at a corner in the center-court area of the mall.

Don't look for Zales to move anytime soon, though. Robertson said work won't be starting on the new store until around July.

Business for sale

Sweet Indulgence, the bakery at 1121 W. Windsor Road, C, is for sale, leasing agent Sean Williams said.

The business did well, but was closed last month by its owner, Sue Kirby, due to family reasons, Williams said.

Kirby couldn't be reached.

Are you opening a new business or changing something at your existing business? Debra Pressey can be reached by phone at 351-5229 or 800-252-3346; by e-mail at dpressey<@>news-gazette.com; or by regular mail at The News-Gazette, c/o It's Your Business column, P.O. Box 677, Champaign, IL 61824-0677.