Neighborhood deli closes after decades of service


March 25, 2010
By CRAIG A. WHITNEY cwhitney@pioneerlocal.com

After the doors closed for the last time, Elliott's Dairy and Deli in Harwood Heights thanked its loyal customers.

One of the owners, Steve Harbin, said the last day of business was March 17.

Elliott's Dairy, 4800 Nagle, Harwood Heights, closed March 17 after serving customers since 1967.


While working on after-closing matters March 22, Harbin said he did not want to blame everything on the economy.

"The neighborhood's kind of changing," he said. "There's Polish delis just about on every corner. Things were starting to get a little rough financially, and me and my partner both kind of put in too much of our own money, and it was a time where we had to say, 'This is it,' before we lost it all."

Harbin said the business had operated as Elliott's since 1967. It was under the name Swiss Dairy from the 1940s until the change.

"It kind of feels like a funeral," he said. "It's one of the hardest decisions that I've ever had to make -- closing the doors and saying goodbye to a lot of old friends, employees, as well as customers."

Harbin said his and his partner's families, all of the roughly 50 employees, and people from the neighborhood came in March 18 to take one last look at the place.