ALBANY PARK — A. Favorite Design, a popular letterpress print shop, has moved to Albany Park thanks to hundreds of people who gave more than $18,000 during a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Named for co-owner Amber Favorite, the shop will host a ribbon cutting Thursday to welcome customers to the new storefront that includes room for community workshops.
Previously located in a quiet second-floor loft in the Ravenswood Corridor, the business opened its new location at 4432 N. Kedzie Ave. in June.
A. Favorite Design specializes in handmade greeting cards and stationary. Postcards and greeting cards — for birthdays, graduations, baby announcements and more — cost about $4-$5.
Favorite, who lives in Albany Park, said she was thrilled she could find a storefront in the neighborhood where she could share the craft of letterpress “and the magic of snail mail.”
“I have been enjoying the diversity, food and culture [of Albany Park] for years,” she said.
Her previous space in Ravenswood was on the second floor right next to the “L” tracks so it was challenging to have conversations, especially during rush hour, she said. A new management company also took over the building, raising the rent.
So Favorite started looking for a more affordable storefront that would help her attract more retail foot traffic and host more workshops.
Favorite owns the design business, which she launched in 2005, with her husband. A graphic designer by trade, Favorite realized while working in the corporate and nonprofit world that she wasn’t happy and wanted to be her own boss.
“I decided to go out on my own and do freelance work and quickly realized it was either feast or famine,” she said. “So to supplement that, I started working at a stationary store.”
At the stationary store, she later created greeting cards, keeping some of the profits when they sold.
“I quickly learned people liked my design style and found out there was a class at Columbia College at the time on letterpress printing,” Favorite said. “I learned as much as I could.”
When the design studio first opened, it was located in the industrial area near the current location of Metropolitan Brewing and Metropolis Coffee.
“Back when we were there it did not look like it does now,” Favorite said.
In 2007, she started working on her business full time.
Until now, A. Favorite Design’s products have been sold online, at local pop-up events, at artisan fairs and in brick-and-mortar retailers in eight countries.
With the opening of the Albany Park shop, Favorite is now welcoming her own retail customers in person for the first time.
The ribbon cutting event will happen at 3 p.m. Thursday. Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, through 6 p.m., the shop will serve light refreshments and host a print demonstration, where guests can pull a one-of-a-kind print on an antique press.
The first 33 shoppers will receive a complimentary letterpress card pack.
In addition to workshops, neighbors are invited to join B.Y.O.B. letter writing meet-ups, with the first scheduled from 5-7 p.m July 25.
The shop will regularly be open from 11 a.m-6 p.m. Thursdays and from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Private appointments and letterpress parties are also available.
For more information visit the business’s website at afavoritedesign.com or contact Favorite directly at 773-412-0891.
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