Brooklyn Industries Closing Its Chicago Store March 28
WICKER PARK — The impending closure of 7-Eleven won’t be the only soon-to-shutter storefront along the 1400 block of North Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park.
Brooklyn Industries at 1426 N. Milwaukee Ave. plans to close on March 28, according to workers and the company’s co-founder Vahap Avsar.
On Tuesday morning, a closing sale sign went up in the window, advertising 40 percent off everything in the boutique, located on the southwest corner of Milwaukee and Evergreen.
“It has been a very difficult decision. Our lease has expired so we have been renting month to month. The traffic pattern has changed on our street and has effected us negatively for more than a year. After talking with our team, spending some time in the area and going through some soul searching, we decided to close this location and focus on our stores in Brooklyn,” Avsar wrote in a statement.
Founded in Brooklyn, New York City in 1998, the brand uses a water tower for its logo and makes apparel as well as outerwear and messenger bags.
Brooklyn Industries expanded to Wicker Park in 2008. The closure will not impact any of the New York stores.
Nicole Capoccitti, the local store’s manager, has worked at Brooklyn Industries on and off for 10 years, missing only 3 years.
“I’ll miss the overall atmosphere — cool clothes in a fun neighborhood, the customers, and of course my staff. There are a lot of good memories here. Being so far away from the rest of the stores, it really was like owning your own boutique most of the time. I’m really grateful that I got to spend so much time at a place and like where I worked,” Capoccitti said.
The retail storefront is one of three anchoring a vintage building at 1422–26 N. Milwaukee Ave. that was sold for $4.2 million in March 2015 to Cedar Street Co.
It’s unclear if a new tenant has been tapped to replace Brooklyn Industries. Currently there is 3,600 SF of retail space for lease in the two storefronts next to Brooklyn Industries, according to a Loopnet listing.
