Accessory store for autos to open in fall
by BRIAN NADIG
An auto accessory store will open this fall in the former Norwood Park Dodge showroom and repair facility at Northwest Highway and Harlem Avenue, while the re-opening of a food and liquor store at Milwaukee and Bryn Mawr avenues has been delayed because of a licensing issue.
A-Trendz Auto and Truck Accessory Shoppe, which opened 1988, is moving from its current facility at 6021 N. Northwest Hwy. to the former car dealership property at 6333 N. Northwest Hwy. A car dealership operated at the location for 65 years until Norwood Park Auto closed 8 months ago.
The announcement of a new occupant for the 28,000-square-foot dealership site is important for the revitalization of the area because the site serves as the western gateway to the Norwood Park commercial district, according to Alderman Mary O’Connor’s chief of staff Lisa Ryan. The property includes a storage lot in the 7100 block of West Highland Avenue.
"The new store will allow us to better display the many auto and truck accessories we offer as well as double the service bays for installations," store owner Alex Bosak said. "We also will have more parking, which is a major problem where we are at now, and better visibility by the corner of Northwest Highway and Harlem."
The dealership also used a 26,800-square-foot lot at 6340 N. Northwest Hwy., but that property was not owned by the dealership, and it remains for sale. Developers have expressed interest in the vacant parcel, but there are concerns about left-turn access because of railroad tracks that run along the rear of the property and the proximity of the site to a busy intersection where traffic backs up, Ryan said.
A-Trendz will not use the entire dealership site, and it plans to lease a portion of the space. The store’s current facility will be used as part of an expansion project for Toys and Hobbies, 6017 N. Northwest Hwy.
Also in Norwood Park, Duke’s Fresh Market is scheduled to open in mid-October at 6165 N. Northwest Hwy., where another market opened earlier this year but closed a few months later, and Norwood Restaurant, 6101 N. Northwest Hwy., is being remodeled and will re-open next month under new ownership.
Meanwhile, the franchise owner of the Convenient Food Mart, 5530 N. Milwaukee Ave., cannot obtain liquor and tobacco licenses because it is about 96 feet from Care-A-Lot Child Care, 5522 N. Milwaukee Ave. Under state law, the licenses cannot be issued to establishments that are within 100 feet of a day care center.
Owen Brugh, the chief of staff for Alderman John Arena (45th), said that the food mart, which closed several months ago, previously sold tobacco and liquor products but that the owner does not want to purchase the corporation which held those licenses. The previous owner’s licenses before the day care center opened, and the 100-foot restriction applies to new license applications.
City Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection spokeswoman Jennifer Lipford said that the owner of the store has been asked to submit a new site plan and that a new measurement may be taken after the plan is reviewed.
Butterfield Kitchen, which opened a few months ago inside the Jefferson Park CTA Terminal, 4917 N. Milwaukee Ave., closed earlier this month. The business, which sold sandwiches and salads, replaced a doughnut shop that had operated in the terminal for many years.
A construction permit was issued Oct. 9 for an Elly’s Pancake House on the former site of the Blue Angel restaurant, 5310 N. Milwaukee Ave. The interior of the building had been gutted, and it could be several months before the new restaurant opens.
