Re: Lost Shopping Districts
Posted by:
MIKETOUHY
(---.try.wideopenwest.com)
Date: June 20, 2011 07:51PM
Kchi Wrote:
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> At one time Chicago had many neighborhood shopping
> districts. In a age where many people did not own
> cars and relied on either a bus or foot power
> these districts were busy with customers. With
> the flight to suburbia, the downfall of the anchor
> stores like Goldblatts,Weiboldts,Woolworths these
> districts slowly died and took many independent
> stores with them.
>
> Over the years, the city has made many attempts to
> try to resurrect some of these districts but the
> reality of this day and age is that the city's
> parking meter extortion and people becoming too
> busy, too lazy and spoiled and expect to be able
> to park in a parking lot close to the store and
> out of the weather, that these districts are lost
> to history.
>
> The districts that I was most familiar with were
> on the Northwest side but I know the south side
> also had some huge shopping districts.
>
> On the NW side I remember
>
> Six Corners - Irving/Cicero/Milwaukee
> Belmont/Lincoln/Ashland
> Milwaukee/Ashland/Damen
> Logan Square
> Chicago/Ashland
> Belmont/Central
>
> I don't know whether any of these areas had
> chambers of commerce that had any archives or I
> suppose if someone had old phone books they would
> be able to identify some of the stores that were
> there.
>
> I welcome people to identify stores that they
> remember that are long gone, or better yet, maybe
> identify stores that have hung in and still
> exist.
>
> At Milwaukee/Damen/Ashland in addition to the
> Weilboldts, I remember RB clothes,Woolworths,and
> Advance Catalog,Gore & Kaye.
>
> In Logan Square the
> Goldblatts,Jupiter,Woolwoths,Kaufmanns
>
> Ashland and Belmont the Goldblatts,ad Robert
> Hall,,
>
> Six corners, Kees Department store and Woolworths
>
> Even on State Street we used to have
> Sears,Goldblatts,Woolworths,Carson Pirie
> Scott,Montgomery Ward,Hillmans
May I ask what you mean by being lost?
I can understand if there's hardly any business there and if there's too many vacantcies but if there's still a lot of traffic and the stores are doing well than they're not particularly lost.
Some of the stores you mention are gone because the the whole chain went out of business. BTW Sears returned to State Street I think in the late 90's.
If there's any lost districts, it's probably more on the south and west sides of the city.