Our Local Love Affair
Andersonville Galleria
Andersonville and Edgewater have long been known for supporting our locally owned businesses that reside in the neighborhood. It is becoming more and more of a challenge for these independent businesses to keep their doors open. In the last month we have witnessed the closing of local Ann Sather and Haymaker. New chains like LA Fitness and Giordano’s Pizzeria are moving into the neighborhood with the quickness. Residents seem to be conflicted over the matter. Many don’t want corporate chains to move into the neighborhood while others are happy to have options of larger type establishments.
Competition can be good for small business, but it can also bring about trying times for the smaller mom and pop’s trying to remain in the hood. By all means, continue to shop where you like and purchase the things you need and want from your regular go-to’s. But don’t forget to balance it out and support the local businesses that have retail and roots here in our community.
To keep our local love affair alive, here are a few favored independent businesses to consider supporting next time you are out and about shopping in the hood. This is a short list that doesn’t include any restaurants or bars. There are so many others that aren’t listed, so please feel free to add to the list! What are your favorite locally owned shops in the Andersonville and Edgewater hood?
Independent health and fitness centers are few and far between these days. Gyms tend to be owned and operated by large corporate chains. Lucky for our neighborhood we have Cheetah Gyms that have locations in both Edgewater and Andersonville (as well as Bucktown). With an array of workout equipment and classes that range from Yoga to Werq to Spin classes, there are endless options for ways to break a sweat.
True Nature Foods has been in the Edgewater neighborhood for over 30 years. Owner Paula Campanio believes in providing the community with quality, local sustainable produce. They have a CSA and food share, support every type of co-op you can imagine and just recently started a compost program!
At the center of the Andersonville Clark corridor is a large retail market building that contains work from close to 100 tenants offering clothing, artwork, home décor, gifts galore, jewelry, accessories, children’s toys, handmade clothing, Chicago based photography, antiques, soaps, candles, and so much more. The Andersonville Galleria is perfect for retailers who want to sell their work locally and for residents shopping for gifts!
Rivendell is a small theatre with an impressive resume and lucky for us their home is along Ridge in Edgewater. Their mission is to serve women artists and audiences in new and challenging ways and each season they do just that. With a strong commitment to being invested in the local community, Rivendell is always engaged in work that connects the artistic world with the world we live in.
Chicago is the birth-place to delicious coffee Intelligentsia, referring to our hometown as “a city that is brooding, practical and reluctantly beautiful”. Coffee Studio is a favored café that uses local Intelligentsia coffee. Always bustling with writers, academics, students and neighbors, the studio’s baristas create drinks the way an artist crafts a piece of work. And now with food, wine, beer, and donuts from Glazed and Confused, why go anywhere else?
If you have yet to travel down Clark on the South end of Foster, make sure you take the time to do so as there are so many businesses to see! Milk is one of those stores, located just south of Foster on Clark. It’s a small women’s boutique that specializes in small-run, handcrafted goods, many of which come from local artisans. Owner Hallie Borden believes you should be able to have the full-fledged experience of touching and trying on your purchases rather than just buying them online.
Originally created as a store for creative custom framing, Chicago based business Four-Sided has 3 different locations on the north side, one of which is located in Andersonville. With so much stuff to look at, you could spend hours dazing at all of the wall decorations or getting lost in finding the perfect birthday card. For an authentic local piece of art that has a Chicago vibe, this is the place to go.
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