WEST TOWN — Are you an Atomix Coffee Shop regular devastated by the news last month of the 19-year-old shop’s closing?
Well, now’s your chance to own a piece of the neighborhood staple you loved so much.
Dan Murphy, the owner of Atomix at 1957 W. Chicago Ave., is selling the shop’s chairs, tables, booths, banquets, a magazine rack, a neon sign, lighting, kitchen equipment, signage, refrigerator and “espresso stuff.”
He’s also parting with the massive blue-and-white mural of Yuri Gagarin, the world’s first astronaut. Items for sale are listed in a Craigslist ad.
Regulars will get discounts, he wrote in the ad.
“If you were a regular I will sell it for a lot cheaper than some jabroni off the street,” he said. “Seriously, if you were a regular, offer a small token and come and get what you want.”
RELATED: Atomix Coffee Shop Closing After 19 Years On Chicago Avenue In West Town
To set up an appointment to buy item(s), contact Murphy via Craigslist.
Atomix Coffee Shop opened in 2001 with a space theme. In 2010, Murphy began managing the coffee shop. The next year, he bought the business.
The following decade saw lots of change in the neighborhood, Murphy said. Several new coffee shops and cafes opened, and trends within the coffee industry changed.
In 2017, Murphy began to notice a stark decline in revenue. He decided to close last month.
“I’m not sour about this. … It’s a matter-of-fact thing,” he said in September. “Businesses that are thriving [in West Town] would not have been able to exist years ago. And businesses that existed years ago, would not be able to thrive today.”
Logan Square’s Damn Fine Coffee will take over Atomix’s lease at 1957 W. Chicago Ave., co-owner Josh Miller told Block Club last month.
Miller opened Damn Fine with three other co-owners at 3317 W. Armitage Ave. in 2016. Before that, Miller had a special connection to Atomix: he worked there in the early 2010s and hung out at Atomix in the early 2000s.
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