A service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Development, Preservation and Zoning Task Force, and the HPOKCC website, www.hydepark.org. Help support our work as watchdog, forum and clearing house: Join the Conference.
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News,
Assessments and essays on Hyde Park's business climate
and district development, amenities and vitality
A service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Development, Preservation and Zoning Task Force, and the HPOKCC website, www.hydepark.org. Help support our work as watchdog, forum and clearing house: Join the Conference. |
Other pages: A
new page has news and discussions of broadening grocery
and related specialty shops options (dare we say "competition?):
Treasure Island, Hyde Park Produce
& MORE.
Development
and Dev.-Preserv.-Zoning navigator. Development
home.
Small Business
Improvement Fund. Cleanslate
great success!!
53rd
TIF News home.
Bus. distr. maps. TIF
maps. TIFormation.
2000 A Vision for the Hyde Park Retail District 2000.
53rd St. Planning Vision, Future and News-news of
the variety of options, mixed use buildings, and full-suite of retail wanted
by Hyde Parkers.
Neighborhood Development
and Public Policy--has stories about specific developments as well as essays
on policy objectives and caveats.
TIF
Advisory Council Meetings. Streetscape
and Metra/Lake Park revitalization projects. Zoning
Reform home. Parking/Transportation
Enhancement District proposal. Parking
Woes. Tracking Community
Trends. Community News.
New Cultural
corner comes to 47th/Greenwood.
Co-op home, Treasure
Island-Hyde Park Produce-Village Foods
Harper
Court Sale homepage.
Theater
RFP. Business-Student
Policies/Relations, Payday
Loans, Doctors
Hospital,
Disabilities Task Force, DTF
Business
Information Packet.
Development Navigator
and home.
Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce- http://www.hydeparkchamberchicago.org, contact at.Executive Director: Lenora Austin. President: Greg Teague, first vice president Greg Guttman, second vice president Susan J. Walker, secretary Snjezana Sego, treasurer Ken Sticken. Other members: Cheryl Bonander, Kathy Dusik, Joyce Feuer, Brad Jonas, Christ Nogulich, Michael McGuire, Jim Poueymirou, Jo Reizner, Duel Richardson, Rod Sawyer, Richard Spencer, (new), Jeanne Spurlock, Colette Steward, Laurel Stradford . [Note- this list may now be partially out of date.]
Back Again- Flower Power. SECC and Chamber of Commerce have contracted with Panoramic Landscaping to install 2 seasonal planting and water and maintain all the baskets on 53rd and 55th. Cost is $26,000. The University pays half and matches additional dollars. Send checks to Flower Power at SECC, 152 E. 53rd street, 60615. 773 324-6926.
$590 all for a pair of baskets. $295 one, $150 plant material pair of baskets, $50 for one.
Dwarf mongo pines from the baskets are given away in spring.The University of Chicago Dept. of Community Affairs has commissioned a survey of the neighborhood's wishes and perceptions about retail in Hyde Park. Results show we will have to be enterprizing and convincing.
Cleanslate started May 14. See the Cleanslate page.
Just rolled out: a brochure with map, "Visit Hyde Park's 57th Street- Food for Mind and Body." similar to the general "Edible/Incredible Hyde Park". Thanks,
U of C! Call the Chamber or SECC for copies.Welcome to c.h.a.n.t. restaurant and host of new and moved businesses in Hyde Park.
Hyde Park Produce open in its new, much larger digs in Kimbark Plaza. HPP will sponsor the Neighborhood Club's Pancake Breakfast April 13.
Are we driving
out the home-grown and business variety and should business and other orgs.
intervene? The
big issue is redevelopment of Harper Court. HPKCC and th Tif will be working
together on an open RFP process.
Harper Ct sale has the up to date material on this and other development
process issues. Go to 53rd future
vision and news.
Development navigator page.
Dr. Wake's
and other letters (in Harper Court Sale)
reveals the ugly and the wonderful about business-community relationships in
Hyde Park. Blame for so much retail money going out of the neighborhood is spread
far and wide--from the auto to people looking at price over convenience and
service, from high rents and perceived developer greed to the tug between the
University and others wanting high end and more outside businesses and, on the
other, market pull toward rows of fast-foods and beauty salons, to in-a-rut
business owners and big outfits (not always rationally) having no interest in
our markets. There is a large component in the community that both wants
the original mission of Harper Court--to promote, if necessary subsidize a variety
of small and different businesses and also wants done what is necessary to make
the business district a draw, even destination, to customers. The
Chamber echoes that we are in a crisis and need to take actions regardless of
holistic trends.
Similar issues were raised about tenants to be displaced from the Theater/53rd and Harper development- see Theater RFP page. Major upshots of the redevelopment would be upscale apparel and other missing boutique style shops (local and national), possible return to the neighborhood of Morton's or a similar bistro type restaurant, and upstairs office space. The University has helped several businesses in both sections to find new space locally.
Note that several
national chains such as Borders' also are facing challenges, due in considerable
part to market changes such as movie rental and music purchase--specifically
Borders and Blockbuster (which bought out Coconuts).
What neighbors said about business climate in HPKCC Forum-additional discussion
in Development page.
Note,
though, that not only is the U of C helping relocate businesses but to grow
new South Side businesses, including with the Law School Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship--advising
and helping organize businesses including in Hyde Park (773 834-3129); Graduate
School of Business Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship includes for nonprofits;
Edward L. Kaplan New Venture Challenge (www.chicagonvc.com/gci-bin/ONC/find_idea.cgi
or com/findteam.htm.
Also Entrepreneurial Internship Program- Polsky Center at 773 834-4525 or anna.bishop@chicagogsb.edu.
Office of Business Diversity, U of C includes workshops- Naida Quarles at nquarles@uchicago.edu.
And this October, U of C and Hull House are offering a class at Clinical Legal
Studies, 6020 S. University in entrepreneurship- $200. Tuesday evenings 6 sessions.
312 906-8600.
Coming
Kleiner restaurant, Checkerboard, HP Dining/conditions: HP next
'in' spot?
New: 2 block purchases likely to bring retail shifts-
pluses and minuses, plans-in-progress, latest
TIF meetings odd months 2nd Monday 7 pm, Neighborhood Club 5480 S. Kenwood. Next Monday, May 12, 7 pm, Hyde Park Neighborhood Club.
May 3, Saturday, 9 am-12 pm. 53rd St. TIF, Ald. Preckwinkle and community organizers with the City of Chicago Dept. Plg. and Development and CMAP presents Part II 53rd St. Vision Workhshop. Kenwood Academy, 5015 S. Blackstone. Updates in vision53.org.
Monthly business-to-business meetings of the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce (See in our Comm. Mtgs. Calendar; See also general description in our Community Resources and Neighborhood Nonprofits pages.)
Next business to business networking event is on (1st Wednesdays?, 6 pm, tba On odd months the meeting at? and will be learning sessions, even months will be more party like at venues such as Seven Ten Lanes, Robie House.
Perhaps seminal is the December 8, 53rd Vision Workshop. Over 150 were there, a rough cross section. Much consensus, some fault lines. Read about it and next steps in 53rd Street visioning and news.
The University of Chicago has been praised for its diligence in helping squeezed businesses relocate but critcized for letting vacancies go on too long, an inconsistent or unclearly set forth set of goals, and its role in the Co-Op debacle-- too lenient, then pouncing (some say laying a trap) when its interests were hurt and pressuring the community for acceptance of its plan that is in some ways generous but also gets rid of a long-time community institution it did not control but had enticed onto its property nearly 50 years ago. See Co-Op home.
About the U of C Retail Survey
From minutes of the November 2007 TIF meeting: University od Chicago 2007 Retail Market study: Susan campbell, of UC, presented the results of a retail survey conducted by the University. 12,000 of t he University's students were surveyed, with a 12% response rate, as well as 300 area residents in a phone survey. Among items discussed were- the core area boundaries (47th Street to the Woodlawn neighborhood, and from Washington Park to the Lakefront). The survey results also reported on an expanded boundary, called a Trade area, defined by 31st to 87th Streets, and from the Dan Ryan Expressway (I 90-94) to the Lakefront, and a subset, defined by Pershing Rd. to 67th street, and from King Drive to the Lakefront. She spoke to the point that these areas are what retailers look at when determining store location,s as well as population and income levels within these boundaries. The area also The areas also represent drive times to locations, expressed in time periods up to 15 minutes. she commented that the results were not as strong as retailers usually like to see when making decisions to locate stores within the trade area.
From Gary Ossewaarde's take on remarks at the meeting: Susan Campbell, UC assistant vice president, discussed results of a retail needs and potential study of the larger area of draw and a neighborhood survey. Demographics shown on maps, spread out nature of the business corridors, lack of big spaces and uneven to sparse offerings are among the difficulties to attracting new retail. Parking was said not to be a respondent concern. Shoppers complaints were about the look and feel, lack of selection and variety and of basics as well as entertainment. Facilities were considered outdated and not comporting to modern size requirements and business plans that renew the look every five years. It appears we need to stress advantages business site searches don't look at, such as the students, rebuild our ability to supply basics, and re grow population with spendable income. Objections were made this that leaves out the large number in Hyde Park and around that have some money to spend if the selection were there but cannot support or afford high end retailers, and that there would have to be lots of new people (as Campbell said) when we are landlocked by the Lake and Washington Park and Jackson Park.
"It's the economy, stupid." Recession, recession. Everybody is talking about it. The reality in Hyde Park is that it is already happening. The lack of any new business and the struggle of existing establishments to stay open is evident.
The stranglehold the University of Chicago has over the neighborhood and the presence of the East Coast investors that have taken control of a big chunk of the real estate (over 80 properties in five years), raising rents, emptying out buildings and displacing longtime tenants. Where is this money coming from and why so much in Hyde Park? They say they have a long-term plan. That's all well and good. I'm as much about progress as the next guy, but what happens in the meantime for the existing businesses? How will they survive when we are losing so many residents? Why would a small business want to start up and relocate here? The university's Master Plan and MAC Property's long-term vision is not working in the present environment.
On a lighter note: The best thing that has happened to our community in the past 20 years, the Hyde Park Produce Market, is close to opening at it new location. I urge every Hyde Parker to come a bring a friend, too. Get a feel of how a small business started, progressed and expanded through hard work and dreams. Sixteen years ago when the market opened on July 8, 1991, the biggest challenge was to get Co-Op loyalists to even come in and browse around. Co-Op customers that I shared at the Salonica Restaurant would look me in the eye, and with a bold face, tell me they are members of the Co-Op. (That meaning 'I will not come.') I say to them today, "Where is your Co-Op now?"
Jerry Kleiner restaurant: The restaurant, renamed Park 52, will likely open in March 2008 and includes a major re landscaping and entry on Harper and a moderate to upscale "steak and" menu. As quoted in the February 6 Herald, Kliener said "Right now, we are working on paying fees, getting permits and city inspections. We should be open no later than March 10." Kleiner adn parner Mac Brooks (a Hyde Parker) told the herald park 52 will be an upscale eating place for the professional crowd, serving steaks, salads, fish and soups for dinner and add brunch and lunch menu items at a later date.
At the October 25 2007 Annual Dinner of the Chamber of Commerce, President Jim Poueymirou said Hyde Park is poised for a rebirth and that businesses need to work together to make t his a great small town in a city : Think about how you're going to make this, our small town, a better place and beyond traditional boundaries.
Seminary Coop Bookstores back in black, on way back despite internet, Borders.
In May 2007 Alderman Preckwinkle invited businessmen and leaders and residents to Pizza Capri for an occasional discussion on improving 53rd- "Building Blocks." This focused on city efforts to get rid of rats on and around 53rd area, covering property tax increases, and a talk with city officials on how to take advantage of funds to improve small businesses. On rats, 4thWard Superintendent Ruby Woods stressed cutting off the food source, sealing the envelop including of dumpsters, and who is responsible for what. David Walvoord of the city explained the TIF-based Small Business Improvement Fund, which can be accessed at 312 360-3300. The alderman warned that city revenues are behind, expect property tax increases.
A forum was held Sept. 6 2006 on persons with disabilities and other impediments to getting around or being served in the community or businesses. A task force has been formed. Call George Rumsey oft the Conference, 773 955-4455, Lenora Austin at the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, 773 288-0124 or Sue Purrington at the 5th Ward Office, 773 324-5555. See report on the forum in our Disabled page. Watch for date of meeting of the task force. Teams have gone out educating and evaluating businesses on compliance with ADA, including service to persons with service dogs. Not every business has responded favorably or shown that they have learned well.
October 7 2006, the TIF Neighborhood and Business Environment Committee, co-chaired by Andre Brumfield and Jane Comiskey, with consultant Irene Sherr and persons from several stakeholder organizations (the invitation was open to all) walked 53rd, looking for opportunities for improvements and learning the latest facts about various infrastructure and businesses. Things looked at ranged from trees and tree grates, crosswalks, and alleyways/entrances and bike racks in need of help to businesses with sign blight, deteriorated paint jobs, sign blight, exterior security gates, or just plain blandness. The group also saw some spectacular successes they want to trumpet to the community-- we'll jump the gun by citing a clothing and hair salon in the 1300 block and Third World Cafe, and several whole buildings including the Third World building. A couple landscape opportunities were also seen, namely at United Church and Nichols Park. Ways to improve Dorchester Commons and Kimbark Plaza were also explored. Some expressed frustration at the pace of filling holes and vacancies. Hopes were that movement on the Harper Theater would start the ball rolling. Ways to rev up facade renovations were also thought to be needed. The information will be shared with the city departments, including Transportation, as well as the Aldermen and TIF.
The Hyde Park Disabilities Task Force sent teams to discuss with the local businesses accommodations for persons with disabilities and admission of persons with service dogs. Top
Ald.
Preckwinkle set forth commercial development, esp. on 53rd and Cottage Grove,
as the major challenge, along with schools.
Herald, July 25, 2007. by Nykeya Woods
Hyde Park resident Lawnada Page likes what she sees happening at the Hyde Park Shopping Center, 55th street and Lake Park Avenue. The new shops filling the southern wing of the mall are a draw for her when other neighborhood stores are just not convenient enough. "I can park over here, go to the grocery store and then I an just walk over here. A lot of times when I'm on my way home or passing by, I can't stop because there's nowhere to park. But here I can park," Darling said.
Jo Reizner, vice president for the University of Chicago's real estate operations, said that leases for the former Joyce's Hallmark space have been signed and the build out is underway. The post office and What the Traveler Saw will split the former greeting card spot. The university is landlord for the mall. [In addition to Home Made Pizza,] Toys Et Cetera, 1502 E. 55th St., arrived in February and two more shops--the United States Post Office and What the Traveler Saw-- are set to move in the shopping center, she said. Just one spot- the shop where men's wear retailers Cohn and stern closed their doors earlier this year--remains vacant and unaccounted for.... Reizner said the university had initially decided that an ice cream parlor would b e the best tenant for the 3,228-square-foot space but had just about given up on that idea.
"We're still working on finding a super tenant for that spot. We were talking with lots and lots of ice cram parlors and now we are spreading our net a little further," Reizner said.
What the Traveler Saw adds a novelty travel gift store to the existing mix of two restaurants, a bakery, an optometrist, a shoe store and a toy store ringing the courtyard wing of the mall. This diversity of retail is paying dividends to the store owners, according to Nancy Stanek, owner of Toys Et Cetera. "I think we have increased traffic in the area and traffic is the name of the game. The more people who pass your store, the ore opportunity you have to sell your product," said Stanek. She said since moving her store gross profits have increased by nearly 60 percent.
Antwan Chandler, manager for Wesley's Shoe Coral, 1506 E. 55th St., said since Toys Et Cetera move in there has been a dramatic improvement in business. "We have seen a spike in our business since Toys Et Cetera came into the mall, which is increasingly great," Chandler said. "We had a drop off when Cohn & Stern left." Wesley's Shoe Coral has been in the same location on 55th Street for more than 20 years.
Stanek said she and Chandler expected even greater traffic when the post office moves in. In March, the post office, which is currently inside the Hyde Park Co-op Market 1526 E. 55th St., announced plans for its new street-level home.
While business in the courtyard may be booming, the recent additions there are all relocations. What the Traveler Saw, along with five other businesses, are moving from the Herald Building on the northwest corner of 53rd Street and Harper Avenue following purchase of the building by the University of Chicago. The university plans to redevelop the parcel and the attached theater. Toys Et Cetera left harper Court on Harper Avenue between 52nd and 53rd streets in January.
Kleiner shows it can be done, July 25 07 Herald editorial says (Now open at 5201 S. Harper)
If you haven't been to Harper Court for a while, you're in for a surprise. Restauranteur Jerry Kleiner demonstrates in dramatic fashion what can be done by his transformation of 5401 S. Harper Ave. From hand-painted bricks and wood paneling to an altogether new entryway, the Hyde Park Grill's exterior is a blueprint for Harper Court's future and likely magnet for a remade Harper Court. The interior was reportedly an extensive amount of work. The point is...it can be done.*
[*This "Scan Furniture" building was constructed after Harper Court using different methods: Kleiner's and Checkerboard Lounge's remake in this structure are not proof that the current HC buildings can be successfully so remodeled. The "point" may be that Harper Court's successful redesign, with or without the current buildings, has a model and should be pursued, perhaps starting with a workshop/charette such a that suggested at the July 9 TIF meeting. Read on for the agenda of the Herald and its publisher Bruce Sagan, who is very involved in desire to save Harper Court through revitalization. Ed. GMO]
So lets do it. As we report this we this week, the 53rd street Tax Increment Financing district, purportedly designed to revitalize the area, has amassed another half-million dollars this year. This is our money reserved for our community. We believe public and open development of of 53rd Street and anchoring institutions like Harper Court are long overdue.
The quickest and most efficient use of TIF money is to begin restoring Harper Court immediately and revisit the mission of he court at the same time. What retail do we need in Hyde Park? How can we draw new artists and support the ones we already have through retail space development?
The opening of Hyde Park Grill will be a singular marketing opportunity for Harper Court, and the Harper Court Foundation would be remiss if that opportunity is not taken.
The restaurant marks the completion of the buildings's renovation, begun when the Checkerboard Lounge, 5201 S. Harper Ave., relocated to Hyde Park. People who have never visited Hyde Park are being drawn to the spot. We need to make sure they coming and visit businesses not only in Harper Court but also 53rd Street and beyond.
We understand there are other priorities**--the annex for Canter Middle School, for example--that have been agreed upon as priorities for TIF dollars.
We could begin a well-financed planning process with a top-notch planning organization using the interest alone accruing from the nearly $2 million the fund has collected. Now is the time to be proactive. And Jerry, welcome to the neighborhood.
[**When Ald. Preckwinkle and the city Dept. of Planning set up the TIF, they said it was not to aid developers but to provide public amenities and other pubic purposes. Still, it is formally a "commercial district" TIF.] Top
Sylvia Telser writes the August 1 Herald:
Hyde Parkers want successful stores offering a range of products at reasonable prices. Hyde Parkers do not want high-rise development built on currently empty lots and boarded up buildings.
Go to the South Loop and points north and what does one see? Many successful stores bustling with customers. Whence come these paying customers? From the high density high-rise developments surrounding the retailers. It takes a critical mass of population to support purveyors of goods profitably. Will Hyde Parkers ever resolve this dilemma? Top
Dr. Wax's owner and employees are highly appreciative of many including the university who have come forward to help explore options and sites for this small business that attracts and serves customers and djs from a wide area. "Fantastic!" Meanwhile, Marcus Davis' on line petition has already received 1,300 signatures. http://www.petitiononline.com/drwax123. Harper Court Foundation has not answered inquiries.
Another Hyde Park staple forced out. Botched Dr. Wax lease with Harper Court to blame. Hyde Park Herald, August 1, 2007. By Nykeya Woods
Sam Greenburg has been slowly telling customers that his longtime Hyde Park record store Dr. Wax will have to close at the end of August. As a result, loyal shoppers have started an online petition to try to save the 15-year-old establishment. "Everyone is bummed out," Greenburg told the Herald.
"I didn't tell anyone this week until I was pretty sure I couldn't find another location." Greenburg never expected that he would have to voluntarily close. More than one year ago, he submitted a proposal tot he Harper Court foundation to renegotiate his monthly rent from $3,000 to $2,000, he said. In the letter, Greenburg indicated that he would go back to his original rent price once business picked up. Business rebounded in February and he began paying $2,200, he said.
Then [they] called [me] into the [office on] June 22. [They] told [me] that they wanted their back rent, which was about $15,000. [Leslie Cole Morgan] said that [they] got [my] letter, but [they] never signed anything to that effect. [They want the back rent," Greenburg said. "So basically we came to a mutual agreement that I would close at the end of August." Harper court Foundation President Leslie Cole Morgan declined to comment.
Greenburg said that he does not want to close the store, but at present, he has no other option. So far he has been unable to find another location in the neighborhood and has even looked in nearby Bronzeville.
Greenburg moved from Columbus, Ohio to Lincoln Park, where he opened a record store in the late 1970s. Several years later he moved to the neighborhood and opened Dr. Wax in the location currently occupied by Hyde Park Produce, 1312 E. 53rd st., around 1987. Greenburg then opened two additional Dr. Wax stores in Edgewater and Evanston, neither of which he currently owns. "Dr. Wax is more than just a store. That's mainly because of the employees," Greenburg said. "The two mainstays, Charles Williams and Duane Powell, are the main reason people come to this store." Greenburg said that his employees have included local hip-hop and independent rock artists, and several DJs from WGCI.
Local DJs like Kymya, who uses only one name, are shocked that Dr. Wax may close. "If we lose Dr. Wax it will be like a smack in the face to people who are not only DJs, but people who love music.".. Kymya said that Greenburg carries a variety of musical genres that is hard to find on the South Side. She also said that the store offers multiple mediums like vinyl LP{s and CDs, new or used for those on a budget. "This is kind of a staple in the music industry, [having] a place where you can get underground music. It's just horrible that it will close," Kymya said.
Hyde Park resident Marcus Davis was so disgusted by the possible closure that he started an online petition, petitiononline.com/drwax123. At herald press time the petition was less than a week old and had nearly 227 signatures. " I know the petition is not going to be enough in and of itself to stop Dr. Wax from closing," Davis said. "But I hope that it can serve as sort of a persuasive representation of just how much of an impact the store has had and t hat can help to galvanize the community and embarrass Ald. [Toni] Preckwinkle and Harper Court Foundation into considering the steps to be taken to hopefully prevent the store from closing. "
Davis, also a DJ, said that the store has helped local artists, like vocalist Tanya Reed. (Reed signed the online petition and sid that her CD, "Tanya Reed Live In Chicago," benefited from being in the record store.)
Davis also said that allowing the record store to close is contrary to Harper Court founding mission- to provide a location for artists and artists and displaced by Urban Renewal. He questioned the future of independent businesses in Hyde Park. "To see an institution like Dr. wax be pushed out I guess in the interest of market rent I t think that it kind of goes in the face of the original intent. It speaks to a larger trend in Hyde Park period, in terms fo making it a mall," Davis said.
Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lenora Austin said that Dr. wax would be a major loss for music lovers and the business community. She said those who have gone to the internet for music are overlooking personal touch Dr. Wax provides. "I know people that use the Internet for the kind of services that Greenburg provides, but the experience is not the same," Austin said.
Greenburg has been on a month-to-month contract with the foundation since last year. He is planning on talking to the University of Chicago about its vacancies.
Letter August 22 by Marcus E. Davis in Herald says Court board puts greed over culture; raises general issues about HP retail and spiritWhile I remain hopeful Dr. Wax wil be able to continue its existence at a different location, I find it a tremendous embarrassment that the Harper Court Foundation (HCF) has failed to respond to the community's outcry both in Chicago and around the world to save this cultural hub.
When I started the online petition asking HCF to reconsider its decision to price Dr. wax out of Harper Court, petitiononline.com/drwax123, I never imagined it would elicit the type of response it has . At the time of this letter, almost 1,600 people have offered their support, and the numbers continue to grow.
People from a myriad of backgrounds and from as far away as Africa have left heartfelt comments about how much this store has impacted their life and how tremendous a loss it would be to see it not around for future generations.
Yet HCF's Board of Directors continues to hide behind its Executive Director Leslie Cole Morgan, who refuses to engage the community about the future o the Hyde Park legend in a transparent fashion.
I suppose this is not surprising considering the manner in which Harper Court has been eroded over the years, best represented by the razing of the historic chess boards which served as a place where different generations and cultures could convene and discover each other.
People my call be dramatic for being so incensed about the closing of a record store. Much larger stores such as Virgin Mega Store and Tower Records have all fallen in the wake of the digital age. But that analysis is not applicable here.
Dr. Wax embodies the spirit of creativity and independence that supposedly comes from being a Chicagoan. For years, they have proven their dedication to working in concert with the community to cultivate our emerging but still fragile music scene. Their sales have actually rebounded in the last year.
And it is simply offensive that, in a city where we give billion-dollar corporations tax breaks worth thousands of dollars, no one from the alderman down, can see it fit to preserve this most essential place.
Those at the Harper Court Foundation so consumed with greed they disrespect the obvious desires of the people should be ashamed of themselves. They should also be prepared for the repercussions.
The soul of Hyde Park is being exported in a very clandestine manner. I hope those in the community continue to show their disapproval and pressure the HCF and our elected officials to do something to turn this nonsense around.
Construction is
nearly done on "CHANT" a fine cuisine of Asia restaurant that will
succeed both Far East Kitchen (where it will be at 1511 E. 53rd) and Noodles
Etc. in the former Herald building. A very chic design.
Located a 5201 N. Harper, just north of Harper Court, the structure, renovated at considerable time and expense and with classy brick and wood and tile, is described by Kleiner to the Herald as providing "American comfort food that's here for everyone: e just felt there as a need to do a restaurant that was a little bit sophisticated here." Translated: upscale eating for a professional crowd, especially after work, and affordable: steaks, salads, fish, soups. Mainly dinner, later maybe lunch or brunch.
Partner is Mark Brooks, who recently opened Room 21 at 2110 S. Wabash. Brooks told the Herald this is an exciting moment because of new developments. Gardens and outdoor seating is expected to help change the dynamic of the area, which sometimes seems abandoned.
Visit the Small Business Improvement Fund page.
The business must be small and independent and in the 53rd Street TIF District to qualify for the Small Business Improvement funds up to $50,000. Eligible are pretty owners with net worth less than $4 million or tenants earning less than $1.5 million in sales with a lease for at least 3 years. Ineligible are what some will doubtless feel are those most needing rehab: national chains, currency exchanges, pay day loan stores, liquor stores, bars hotels, astrology and palm readers, trailer storage and junk yards. Grants can be use for roof and facade improvements, HVAC and mechanical systems, floor and interior buildout and land purchase. Excluded are new construction, painting, equipment, and planters.
The grants are from 53rd TIF funds (one of 13 tifs participating in the city). No guidelines of who or how selection will be made have yet been drawn up. It is very open ended.
Applicants must be in compliance with SBIF requirements and go through a lottery process. Deadline in March 23. Applications area available at the 4th Ward Office, 4659 S. Cottage Grove, 773 536-8103,the Chamber, 5211 S. Harper, and South East Chicago Commission, 1511 E. 53rd upstairs. Top
Bookseller looks to sublease Uptown, Hyde Park and 2 Lincoln Park locations. This seems to be as much or more due to national trends, such as other ways to buy music, online book purchasing as to problems with business level or other problems at the local stores. See below on other takes.
Chicago Business News, Analysis & Articles | Borders may close four Chicago stores | Crain's
(Crain's) — Borders Group Inc. may close four of its eight Chicago stores, including two in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Borders, the nation’s second-largest bookseller, has hired a local real estate brokerage firm to sublease the four stores, according to real estate industry sources.
The stores being marketed include two Lincoln Park locations, at 2817 N. Clark St. and 755 W. North Ave., the Uptown outlet at 4718 N. Broadway Ave. and the Hyde Park location at 1539 E. 53rd St.
Three of the stores, Uptown, North Avenue and Hyde Park, opened in the last four years.
No other Borders locations, including two downtown — on State Street and Michigan Avenue — in Lincoln Village on the Far North Side , Beverly on the South Side or its roughly 25 suburban stores, are being marketed for sub-lease, sources say.Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders is coming off a difficult holiday season in which sales at stores open more than a year fell 1.9%. In January, the company cited falling store traffic and a “steep decline” in music sales for the holiday results.
On Thursday, new CEO George Jones is expected to announce a new strategic plan, which sources say could involve closing stores, when the company reports its full-year results.
“There’s nothing wrong with that real estate,” says Allen Joffe, a principal with Baum Realty Group who heads the firm’s retail leasing division and isn't involved in marketing the four Borders' sites. “I would have to assume Chicago would be part of the broader, national strategy.”
A Borders spokeswoman says she doesn’t know whether the stores are being marketed for sublease. But she says the stores haven’t been slated to close. She also notes that the retailer has marketed stores for sublease for years, including one on Park Avenue in Manhattan, that the chain still operates.
“It doesn’t cost anything to put it out there to see if anyone is interested in the retail space,” the spokeswoman says. “That doesn’t mean we’re closing. It could take years to find a subtenant.”
Borders has hired Oak Brook Terrace-based Mid-America Real Estate Corp. to market the four stores, sources say. Mid-America Principal Jeff Kuchman declines to comment.
Wall Street is expecting Mr. Jones, who took over as CEO last July, to announce a new direction for Borders, which has tried to expand by opening new stores in the U.S. and abroad while remodeling existing stores in recent years, according to Morningstar Inc. analyst Joseph Beaulieu in Chicago.
The company in January acknowledged it is seeking to sublease a Borders in downtown Minneapolis. Top
Irene Sherr takes a more complex take on the possibilities for Borders, including Borders' denial it plans to closed the store. (But some note this would be a particularly damaging closure because of the separateness and location of the building.)Border's low sales not Hyde Park's Fault. April 4, 2007 Herald
The Herald's recent story ) Borders reports low sales at HP store, may close, March 28) did not present an accurate picture of the situation. The story made it sound as if the Hyde Park's Borders' "underperformance" was the neighborhood's fault.
The reality is that the Hyde Park Borders situation largely reflects the company's overall performance and what is happening in the retail book and music industry.
In the 1990's booksellers grew by opening additional bricks and mortar locations. Retail growth has slowed, which has forced Barnes & Noble, Borders and other retail bookstores to look towards e-commerce as a way to improve their bottom line. It is a very competitive field and quite difficult to compete successfully against Amazon.
According to Ann Binkley, Borders' director of public relations, Borders does not plan to close the Hyde Park store, but explore the feasibility of sub-leasing the space of four "underperforming" stores in Chicago. Ours is one, another is in Uptown and the other two are in Lincoln Park, including the landmark store at Clark and Diversey.
The facts are that orders lost $73.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to $119.1 million of net income for the same period in 2005. Even Borders CEO George Jones explained in a March 22 press release, "Our company's performance has fallen short in an industry that is increasingly competitive, technology driven and price sensitive."
On a neighborhood level, Borders entered the market facing well established competition from 57th Street Bookstore, Seminary Co-op Bookstore, Powell's and Barnes & Noble. Hyde Park's independent bookstore have a fiercely loyal customer base. In addition, the 53rd Street store seems to have been plagued with management and operational challenges since it opened.
Considering all of these issues, the Herald's story about Borders appears to place undo responsibility on the community. Hopefully this story will serve as a wake up call to Borders to work a little harder and renew their commitment to better serve the customers on the Mid South Side of Chicago.
In return Borders may see a brighter bottom line. For now it is good to know they will be staying in the neighborhood.
[Caveat- customers do make some of the problems, including the squatters--and not just homeless, but people who just sit and work their laptops or browse the papers/mags and don't buy.]
The U.S. Post Office held a rare public hearing March 6 on its near-certain move from overcrowded and hard to manage quarters in the lower level of the Co-op 55th market to the former Joyce's Hallmark, in the same shopping center. The new space will be twice as large and on ground level, with visibility. The only concerns were with leaving the Co-op in the lurch. The post office had, this source was told, inquired about the Video Store space (even though not really ideal, but was told there were other prospects.) The Post Office said it will post an address for comments (Earlene Campbell, 62 Stratford Drive, Bloomingdale, IL 60117-7000, 630-295-6241, pearlene.campbell@usps.gov, then report to the alderman, sign contracts et al, which may not go out to bid because it's a proximate move. The move will take up to a year and a half. Part of the space will be used by What the Traveler Saw, from the Herald building, about to undergo renovation.
You've passed it a thousand times. The glazed white terra cotta- covered grocery at 53rd and Harper, long called Poullman's, re-christened a few years back "Magic Mart". It has had numerous problems with under age liquor sales, hangers-about, alleged drug sales and gang activity, and a murder. SECC opposed a new liquor license to one of the partners a few years back, and it continued to operate under a senior partner's license. Fines and short closures go back to at least 1994. Since the latest violation was within a year of the previous, the Department of Business Affairs and Licensing chose to revoke all its licenses and close it for 30 days and during any subsequent appeal (which has been filed). Businessmen and other observers noted that conditions seem to clean up at the corner when that store is closed. Top
There is huge competition among banks for the retail business. This competition has led to a remarkable shift in store space in Hyde Park. This competition as noted in last week's Herald has resulted in seven branch banks in prime retail space in our community.
We've become short of awnings for convenience stores, restaurants, and gift shops. Seven locally-owned businesses including a popular clothing store lost their storefront spaces. One relocated in Hyde Park, but six of them left.
If anything is needed to demonstrate why Harper court could play a role in our community, this is it. Its mission was to pay attention to the needs of the community. Its original group of tenants were and continue to be good businesses. Harper Court has restaurants, services we need like the veterinarian, and businesses we wanted to attract like Artisans 21.
Commercial landlords are going to look for the best economic deal. And banks demonstrate that. But this was not the intent of Harper Court when it opened in 1965.
Where is Harper Court's plan to continue their mission in Hyde Park?
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Banks saturate Hyde Park, people say Hyde Park Herald, December 6 2006. By Nykeya Woods. Hyde Park may cover one-and-a-half square miles, yet the neighborhood has seven bank branches. There are many more places for residents to open a bank account than there are fro them to buy a pair of jeans. With the shortage of stores, the space Washington Mutual occupies at 1364 E. 53rd ST. and where Bank of America will soon open on the corner of 53rdd Street and Blackstone Avenue leaves local business experts wondering if storefronts could have been better utilized. \ “That’s a decent-sized restaurant. That’s a decent-sized clothing store,” said Jim Poueymirou, Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce president. “You could think of any number of businesses that would have wanted that space.” In the last two years four new banks—Harris, BankFinancial, Washington Mutual and Bank of America—have moved into the neighborhood. Bank of America is replacing the DaVita Kidney Dialysis Center. Harris replaced a bicycle shop on 5he corner of 55th Street and Cornell Avenue. Five stores had to relocate out of the neighborhood so that Washington Mutual could move in. In many cases landowners eager to fill storefronts prefer banks because they can afford to pay higher rent and sign multi-year leased compared to small and independently-owned stores, said Poueymirou, who is a mortgage finance expert. The Harris space sat vacant for many years after the bicycle shop moved out [note- relocated]. “The negative impact however is that it limits the retail stores from those spaces,” Poueymirou said. When walking down 53rd street, Poueymirou said residents have three different chances to open an account. The question is, will the community support all these banks,” Poueymirou said. In 1982, Illinois banks were authorized to establish a branch anywhere in the county of its main establishment of no closer than one mile to another main bank. The exception to the rule was University National Bank, which preceded the law with two locations on 55th Street. Three years late, the law changed allowing up to five branches in a county. In 1990, branching rights expanded authorizing up to 10 branches in a county, five branches in each neighboring county and five more in a non-adjacent county provided that the branch was within 10 miles of the main bank. Commercial districts like 53rd Street may have a hard time revitalizing themselves as destination spots if banks continue moving into prime storefronts, said Irene Sherr, a planning consultant. “My concern about their impact on a commercial district has to do with the type of foot traffic they generate,” Sherr said. Too much of any product does not work towards the economic growth of the neighborhood, Sherr said. Local and national retailers like a clothing store or furniture store would be better served by the neighborhood. “What is happening in the world of banking is creating this explosive growth, this kind of Starbucks phenomenon of branch banks everywhere you look. Hyde Park is not alone,” she said. Ten banks, including several national chains, are located in the two square miles of Wicker Park, said Paula Barrington, Wicker Park and Bucktown Chamber of commerce executive director. “I would say that [the banking climate] is fairly aggressive. we have quite a few banks that are serving the two neighborhoods,” Barrington said. Hyde Park Bank’s
President Tim Goodsell said his bank will remain competitive. “For
years and years it was basically just University National Bank and us
and we liked that better,” Goodsell said. “We really think
competitively and we’ll continue to have an advantage because we
have substantial drive-in capability. That’s a big part of the business.”
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Talking to the Maroon January 30, UC vice president Hank Webber said we are in an active period of development. President Zimmer at a town hall meeting in January said the university's goal is, in conjunction with others in the neighborhood, to promote a Hyde Park that is "safe, comfortable, and pleasant for members of the University and the community. I think everyone would like to see better commercial and retail opportunities in Hyde Park, and we share that view," he said. The Maroon noted that many residents look forward to new services and businesses by worry about displacement of local culture. Wallace Goode of the University Community Service Center said it doesn't have to be either/or but both the quaint small boutiques and one-stops especially for goods like socks that you can't have individual boutiques for.
David Baum, one of the redevelopers of the 53rd Harper Theater property, told the Maroon they think new retail options will not detract from the community's character if they are integrated artfully,--you have to have a mix, including of locals and nationals. Baum already has brought Starbuck's to 53rd and Kinko's to 57th and said he targets the area because it is under represented in retail but educated and affluent. He expects a domino effect from development.
But several local business employees say small businesses will close as new come in. This will in turn hurt our edge as we end the vibrancy of having the old and new help each other as in Harper Court. But a more recent occupant of Harper Court said chain retailers provide an opportunity to inform a new crowd about Hyde Park culture. Alderman Preckwinkle said, "Nothing ever stays the same over time. The challenge is to have a vibrant commercial strip that mixes national businesses and local chains."
Jerry Kleiner, whose restaurant next to the Checkerboard in Harper Court opens in April, said he's betting on a hunch that 53rd can be a thriving strip. "Something is needed... I like the fact that there's good opportunity in Hyde Park... I want to turn people on to a new neighborhood in their city. I feel it's time to expose the rest of the city to Hyde Park." Webber praised Kleiner's record of helping establish added restaurants in neighborhoods.
U of C solicits student input on campus retail. Chicago Maroon, March 30, 2007. By Sarah Hetherington
The University hosted a discussion on Hyde Park retail options for a group of undergraduate and graduate students Monday night. The discussion was led by Susan M. Campbell, associate vice president for community affairs, and Lisa Prasad, a business development consultant who formerly worked with the University of Pennsylvania.
Over pizza, students addressed problems they perceive with retail in Hyde Park and how retail fits into the quality of student life.
Daniel Kimerling, chair of the student government finance committee, called for improved grocery options, a request echoed by nearly every student in attendance. “The Co-op simply does not cut the mustard,” he said. Kimerling and other students said they frequent downtown grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and whole foods because of the Co-op’s high prices and lack of variety. Students without cars noted that traveling to buy groceries is inconvenient.
Many students also expressed a desire for greater access to grocery stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues late at night, decrying the lack of food and entertainment options available after 10 p.m. Graduate students in particular complained about the difficulty of finding places to eat that are open after long days in classes and labs.
Prasad described how retail acts as “a buffer that brings people together,” especially the university community and surrounding Hyde Park. Multiple students cited Seven Ten Lanes and Bar Louie, both open late, as being successful in attracting students and members of the community.
Some students questioned why broader options do not already exist and why the Co-op has little competition other than Hyde Park Produce. Hyde Park’s perceived lack of available real estate for retail development, coupled with a student demographic with a low disposable income, does little to draw chains or even small businesses to open in Hyde Park, Prasad said.
Part of the University’s mission is to show retailers that census data about student income is actually “artificially low” and that there is, in fact, a meaningful demand for retail.
Students also described the distance between Hyde Park’s 53rd, 55th and 57th Street retail areas as inconvenient and off-putting, an issue that graduate students who live south of the Midway highlighted as particularly troublesome. Students voiced concerns that construction of the new south-campus dorm could exacerbate the lack of retail options.
Campbell said the new dorm—which will provide residence for over 700 students—currently includes plans for a small convenience store similar to Bart Mart. Some graduate students said they had never been to Bart Mart, and most students agreed that while Bart Mart’s location and hour make it a convenient option, it is both expensive and limited in its selection.
In response to Prasad’s question of whether “the library is the center of student life,” Kimerling joked that in fact, it is. Other students cited the local music scene, Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap, and Doc films as affordable and entertaining places to go, but otherwise said they found most entertainment elsewhere in Chicago.
Campbell explained
the University’s retail development as a way to increase the quality of
student life. This balance of “retention and attraction” helps motivate
the University to continue looking into student preferences and opinions on
Hyde Park retail, she said.
Top
Herald asks, Will they stay or will they go? U. of C. plan for Harper Theater and 53rd building doesn't include tenants who are there now. [Concerns that UC biases matters against small, home-grown non-upscale business and doesn't do much for displaced.] [So far, Supreme Jewelers moved across the street to the Bank building; Noodles Etc. will move to Far East Kitchen which it owns across the street; the historic barber shop is expected to take up newly created quarters in the Piccadilly on 51st (University owned). What the Traveler saw is said to be moving to University owned Hyde Park Shopping center to share space with the post office in the former Hallmark space. Kilamanjaro is going to the Boyajian space on 53rd, although they complain its too small and has less foot traffic. U.S. Computech is moving to Harper Court. That leaves Propaganda Tee shirts.
Herald, November 22, 2006. By Erin Meyer
After the University of Chicago announced its recommended developer for the northwest corner of 53rd Street and Harper avenue last week, current tenants have expressed mixed emotions.
The University is recommending that Brinshore Developers and Baum Brothers LLC rehab the53rd St. building for retail and office uses and replace the 91-year-old theater with additional retail and office space. Current tenants on the property are being asked to move elsewhere.
Abdul Kareem, owner of Hyde Park Hair Salon and Barber Shop*, said he decided to look at this as an opportunity for his 400-square-foot shop to increase in size. "I don't like that we have to move, but change is inevitable, Kareem said. "The direction that the neighborhood is going through, I think that this development here is probably a necessary procedure."
[In addition to being by far the longest surviving tenant of the complex since 1926--80 years, Hyde Park Barber Shop was the first to start serving and catering to African Americans when they moved in during the 1950s and has many historic connections to, for example, the jazz and blues world, sometimes hosting live performance. Barack Obama has his hair cut there.]
Since 1926, a barbershop has been at 1464 E. 53rd st. Kareem took over as owner in 2002 and has seen 75 to 100 people come into the shop on the weekends.
Despite the change, Kareem says he wants to stay in the neighborhood but has encountered a city zoning ordinance barrier. The zoning ordinance requires new shops to be 1,000 fee from any existing hair salon, barbershop or nail salon, which makes staying in Hyde Park difficult. He would also be required to purchase a special usage permit. He recently began looking in Bronzeville.
Sister Rose Garrett, owner of Kilimanjaro International art and Design, has been looking at vacant storefronts in Bronzeville, but for a different reason. "I don't know where we are going to go because the rent is too high [in Hyde Park]," Garrett said. "I guess they don't want us here." Garrett also said that the university is overlooking the fact that she is an artist with a small store and cannot generate a lot of money for high rent.
For Shelby Li has operated his computer repair store at 1466 E. 53rrd St. The U.S. Computech owner said he has been looking along 53rd Street for vacant storefronts to ensure keep[s] his clientele. Li said the university is no longer looking out for small businesses and the community should be outraged that businesses are being pushed out. "It's not fair," Li said.
Michael Timble is saddened at the thought of moving his store, Propaganda T-shirt Printing, out of the neighborhood. With two others, one in Wicker Park and one in Lakeview, Timple said his main concern is to try to stay in the area. "I am sad that we have to leave the spot," Timple said. "And I am concerned that it will be hard to find comparable spaces in the neighborhood.
Timble, whose store has been at 1426 E. 53rd St. for three years, said that he believes the university is interested in small business. But "when you see businesses like Starbucks and others move in, you can kind of see the writing's on the wall," he said.
"The university will work with the tenants to identify options for relocation," Hank Webber, the university's vice president of Community and Government Affairs, told the Herald. ...Tenants will be required to move by June of 2007.
Chant, Hyde Park Produce, Treasure Island, Park 52 restaurant at 5201 Harper. Businesses successfully relocated from Harper Court and the Herald/Theater. Much of this with help from U of C Real Estate and Community Affairs.
A burgoeoning of Jazz and Blues in restaurants in Hyde Park is changing the sense of the business district and its potential for the "late night ambiance" everyone is asking for.
Not opened (until late fall 2007?) but signed its lease with U of C in Kimbark Plaza: Hyde Park Produce, which will take over the space occupied until late 206 by the Co-op's 53rd Express store. The new store will have three times its present space further east on 53rd Street. Owners are Ron Thomas, Larry Damico and Lawrence "Yoyo" Damico.
Openin late September 2007 is Fair Trader, at 1623 E. 55th St. Hyde Parker Betty Holcomb's, Cindy Pardo and friends' new store seeks to sell clothing, jewelry and home accents at prices fair to producing artisans and farmers under good working conditions and gender equality. Grand opening will be in October.
A new barber shop has moved into the stand-alone building in the 1600 block south side of 53rd street. Part of a barber shop renaissance in Hyde Park-- some adding shoe shiners.
Former Hyde Park Barber Shop and Hair Salon, formerly in the Herald building, has divided into the barber shop, now in the Picadilly on Hyde Prk Blvd, the Hair Salon is now ast 5234 s. Blackstone.
Parker's Pets at 1342 E. 55th fills a niche in good accessories for pets and fulfills entrepreneurial dream of life-long Hyde Parker Katherine Pottenger. The benefit opening September 29 will help a shelter in Indiana, Smaller Paws. Getting backing for the business was not easy. 773 643-7387.
In June 2007 Original House of Pancakes was closed by a horrific electrical explosion. It's fed by generators while new power feeds are installed.
The Coconuts space in the 1500 block of 53rd St. was quickly filled with Apartment Finders and American Mattress.
Nancy Stanek closed Toys Et Cetera in Harper Court and on February 1 2007 will reopen in the Hyde Park Shopping Center - north half of the former Cohn and Stern. There is much more back space and an office. This does make redevelopment of Harper Ct. seem more likely and its minimal rehab unlikely.
Stanek leaves Harper Court, Relocates toy store to the Hyde Park Shopping Center
Hyde Park Herald, January 17, 2006. By Nykeya Woods
Toys Et Cetera has found a new home in the Hyde Park Shopping Center and is moving out of Harper Court by the end of the month. Nancy Stanek’s store is moving into the northern half of the former Cohn & Stern space. On Feb. 1, Stanek plans to open the doors of the 1,664-squasre-foot store, which is equipped with full basement storage. And for the first time in 30 years she will have her own office.
“We’re happy that we’re going to continue our business in Hyde Park because it was looking very very iffy,” Stanek told the Herald last week. “Our choice was to either close down the store altogether or take our operation out of Hyde Park.”
In a 2005 interview, Stanek, who had been on a month-to-month lease with the Harper Court Foundation for a long time, said she was toying with closing her store due to declining sales. Last spring Stanek joined local veterinarian Tom Wake and restauranteur Paul Andresen, both fellow tenants, to take over the ownership of the shopping center from the Harper Court Foundation [sic]. The death of Andresen last October changed that. [The Harper court Arts Council had rejected offers, also.]
Stanek said she could not wait to see what happens to Harper Court. She claimed that any developer who is interested in Harper Court would not find it feasible to maintain the structure. “Harper Court Foundation want to get out of the shopping center business,” Stanek said. “And they don’t feel that it is feasible to remain. Anyone who is looking at the economics of [Harper Court and] at the amount of money that they want for the space, there is no way anyone is going to be able to maintain this shopping center.”
Wake was equally skeptical. “Harper court is going to be torn down,” said Wake, who owns the Hyde Park Animal Clinic. “People can stall as long as they like. The physical plant is falling apart.” He added, “What we need to do is spend our energy getting the right locations for the business that are here and moving on.”
Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce President Jim Poueymirou said the downside of Stanek’s move is that Harper Court is losing a major tenant. Despite that, her move should help rejuvenate the toy store. “I think it will benefit Nancy and her clientele tremendously by being [on] 55th Street,” said Poueymirou. “It’s a new space. It has a greater traffic flow; I think more people will choose to shop there.”
Stanek manages two other locations in Chicago and one in Evanston.
Sprint will move from 5200 block of Blackstone to 53rd Street, joining on 3rd nearly every phone service co.
Parker Pets (boutique) will open at the end of September in the 1400 block of 55htSt- 2nd door east from Kenwood.
Far East Kitchen is being remodeled (although a section remains open) into the new Chant., moving from the soon to be renovated Harper Theater/Herald retail building. Owner Patty Kidwell is a mainstay of the community.
Slowly the businesses in the Harper Theater are finding new homes--most recently the barber shop (Piccadilly, 1431 E. HP Blvd.) and Computech in Harper Coudrt, What the Traveller Saw in HP Shopping Center, Kilamanjaro in former Boyajians,... .The University is doing its best to meet the needs of those who have to make room for its project.
24 and counting--that's how the Herald described vacancies in Hyde Park at the end of 2006. 10 are in the L3 and Harper Court sites - "in transition." And just 7 are valuable spots for new retailers, as told to the Herald by SECC (South East Chicago Commission) reports. The coming of Jimmy Johns to the former Quiznos site a 1519 E. 55th St. will whittle away one. The Jerry Kleiner restaurant site at the north end of Harper Court (c5201) continues.
And now added is Coconuts Music and Videos, 1506 E. 53rd, which succumbed in December 2006 to trends in the music business and popular culture. And also Leona's Pizza in Kimbark Plaza. Most businesses in the Herald building have found new sites in Hyde Park.
In April 2005, the number of vacancies was just 10. New vacancies include ABC Cellular at 1465 E. Hyde Park Blvd. 4 vacancies in Harper Court are unlikely to to be leased until the future of the Court is resolved. Two spots in Village Center at 51st and Lake Park remain unleased--Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King. Other sites on 55th Street have unknown prospects: former Nite and Day on the south side of the street near Cornell and some of those in the Hyde Park Shopping Center. Some are being spit in two. Homemade Pizza is moving into the former Fannie May Candies. The University is cleaning up and getting ready to show to prospects Gold City Inn and Pet Spa near Harper court. Also still open are former Osco drugs, Verizon at 55th and Lake Park, and the east half of Mystique Boutique at 53rd and Hyde Park.
April 28 2007 Boyajian's Bazaar, a 25 year mainstay, closed.
At Labor Day, the University was closing in on filling the vacancies in the Hyde Park Shopping Center, (by Spring 2007 half the Cohn and Stern with Toys Et Cetera, Fannie May with Home Made Pizza, and (prospectively) Hallmark with the Post Office.) Some more vacancies seemed likely to be filled, and the 53rd Co-op space was moving toward being transitioned to Hyde Park Produce. The Co-op continued to struggle, but was negotiating to lease out several sections of the 47th store.
One of the new entries into the neighborhood is a home decor store, Style Central, opened by Marie Allan Cooper at 5309 S. Hyde Park., former home of Griffin Galleries.
End of June: Progress is reported on filling some vacancies. U of C's agents are in serous negotiation for filling the south part of the Cohn and Stern space, Hallmark, and Fannie May in the Hyde Park Shopping Center. Only 2 vacancies are left on 55th St. In September it was announced that HomeMade Pizza will fill the Fannie May space, 1546 E. 55th St. (In this business, new to HP, you take product home and finish baking it in your oven.) The business started in Lakeview and no has 7 shops including upscale suburbs.
Major vacancies at present :
Manus Dental has opened at 1646 E. 55th Street, filling half of the former Art's Cycle.
DaVita Kidney Center at 14-- 53rd has moved to more spacious quarters in Back of the Yards. Plans for the space are unknown, but offer an opportunity to return to retail. It will be an American National bank branch.
"Noon" Hookah Middle Eastern Lounge at 1617 E. 55th St. Smoke through the water cooled pipe in non-nicotine and double-filtered--$10 and up. Nearby a popcorn shop will soon open.
Istria Cafe is abandoning its plan to ad the 51st Metra station to that at 57th, the 51st being incompatible for sewer and water connection, and to concentrate on a fall opening at a bigger space in nearby Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell (also next to the BP service station).
Losses: Ken Andressen of Dixie Kitchen and Calypso. John Boyajian, former owner of Boyajian's Bazaar.
The Co-op has sold its lease on the 53rd store to Hyde Park Produce's Larry D'Amico. See Co-op page.
A newcomer on 53rd is Kimberly Stampley's Stamp'Lays Executive salon spa/boutique at 1371 E. 53rd.
Bank Financial has replaced University National, two locations here, main 1354 E. 55th St. CEO of the 16 branch south suburban bank consortium is F. Morgan Gasior. Gasior pointed out that they bring a conservative approach to help small as well as larger customers manage and grow their financial assets, stressing commercial lending and merchant processing services. He also noted the bank has the resources to carry through with the growth plans of businesses. The parent bank opened in 1924 in the south suburbs and survived the bank crash. Gasior told the Herald, "We have been in the community working and this was a great way to match up capabilities and resources. I can't say enough for the people we got there and it fits in with what we do anyway so it's been great." Local managers: Regional Senior Vice President Commercial Banking Teresa Handley (based here), Asst. Vice President an Branch Manager Gwen Teamer, Executive Vice President of Marketing Gregg T. Adams, Vice President of Commercial Banking Kenneth Sticken.
Washington Mutual Bank, 1350 E. 53rd Street. Bank of America in the 1401 block
Edible Arrangements is moving into the ABE Cellular space in 1465 E. Hyde Park Blvd.
Several of our stores have been repeatedly hit. C'est Si Bon! was robbed twice the same night at the end of August 2006. Surveillance cameras are very important.
Herald (in interview
October 23 2006) : What plans does the university have, as landlord
to many retail and commercial entities in Hyde Park, to develop the neighborhood's
business district?
Zimmer: I first moved to Hyde Park in 1977; in terms of retail it is
much better. It really is still not what I would say is a place with adequate
retail to serve the community. It is something that needs to be addressed by
the university as a major player in the community.
Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce selected Hyde Parker Lenora Austin as Executive Director in spring 2006. Ms. Austin was introduced at the June 6 Business to Business. Her first task will be to walk the neighborhood and learn the goals and needs of the businesspersons, including what's been changing and why, and how we can have a well-rounded community, she told the Herald. Her background, 30 years with CPS as teacher, administrator and principal, involved continual interaction with businesses and other community residents and leaders. She has been a member or active in Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, Blue Gargoyle board, and little league and pony league. Chamber President James Poueymirou told the Herald, "She understands that her primary role is to actively involved in our membership. She is suited to that task" and brings a broad wealth of experience an maturity that will allow the chamber to expand. Top
Neighbor praises Yolanda Travis, local McDonald's manager
Rev. Doyle Christopher Landry of Positive Vision wrote the Herald that Yolanda Travis's McDonald's franchises thrive because she hires and trains "dynamic professionals." "Enjoying my usual coffee and pie in her 52nd Street and Lake Park Avenue location ...allowed me to observe employees Ms. Dominique and Ms. L_ney serve with speed for a consistent flow of hungry guests expecting instant miracles... Ms. Travis, please continue your excellence... Your business ownership is a Hyde Park model to emulate."
Also to be emulated is the suite of achievements of the late Rev. Dr. Alvin John Wesley, minister and owner of 2 Wesley Shoe Corals, one in Hyde Park. Born as one of 13 children born on a plantation in Louisiana, he served his country with distinction, earned divinity degrees, served several churches including as pastor. In addition to running the shoe stores, he was a stalwart of the Chamber of Commerce and other business associations.
From South East Chicago Commission
Biggest voids: home furnishings, apparel
_____
There actually are fewer real vacancies than it looks like in several parts of the neighborhood. On 55h, Subway will soon open remodeled under new management and the old Art's Cycle rented. Day and Nite Food finally bit the dust and is being used as Rep. Currie campaign hq.--owner MAC Properties is seeking a national chain grocer and. Verizon in the Deco Arts at Lake Park is being rented (Seattle Sutton moving from 53rd). The 53rd Kenwood storefronts are being readied for Washington Mutual. Leal will take down the 53rd Cornell vacant properties as soon as the Plan Comm. approves and permits can be had. The Burger King at 51st Village does remain a problem. Two recent departures: the new Quiznos at 55th and Lake Park, the Hallmark store and Cohn and Stern in the Hyde Park Shopping Center. But a new candy store is going in at the former Fannie May's.
Many ask why it takes so long to fill the vacancies. Part of it is recruitment and permits, part the weak in-neighborhood market (taking our money out of Hyde Park), part a sensed bias against for-profit /non community owned business, lack of a dynamic core modern store, and part that something has to be seen being build in order for things to start really rolling. The Chamber is working to ratchet things up.
"We need to be thinking about [increasing the number of businesses on] the Mid-South Side." Irene Sherr
"Everyone has a stake in a vibrant business community. We all win when new businesses open in our neighborhood, because they attract visitors who spend, they employ local residents and they provide an in-the-neighborhood convenience to local residents, keeping those dollars in the community. Retail districts such as ours are not common throughout the city's South Side, and ours stands as an enduring anchor that represents neighborhood strength and growth." Rod Sawyer
The Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce polled its membership as to what help and amenities businesses most need to succeed better in Hyde Park and to stem th retail loss.The Business-To-Business meetings are one place ideas are being solicited.
And it's taking on refusal of service to a person with a service dog. Educating the businesses a major undertaking. Here's how the Herald summarized Sept. 20 2006:
An important aim is to require all Hyde Park businesses to open their doors to people with disabilities. The issue arose earlier in the summer when Karen Robinson, who uses a seeing-eye dog, was denied service at Dunkin Donuts, 1411 E. 53rd st. No one deserves to be treated this way, and the Chamber of Commerce is the right agency to monitor the treatment of those who shop in our neighborhood.
Note, the target for the Kleiner restaurant is August 2006. The concrete buildings require lots of cuts to modernize and include what is desired. The exterior, to be done last, will include an entrance that extends out to Harper Avenue. The restaurant will seat 150.
Note 2. This structure is not in the Harper Court redevelopment