- Credibility:
HYDE PARK — After 8 years in Chicago, vintage furniture and decor shop Modern Cooperative will close its Hyde Park shop by the end of April.
The store, known for its midcentury modern home furniture, decor and gifts, is closing as co-owners Tiffany Paige and Mike Biersma prepare to move to Dallas. They opened the Hyde Park store, 1500 E. 53rd St., in 2015 and previously operated a store in Pilsen.
“We’re moving because of [Biersma’s] career,” Paige said.
In a statement, the owners also cited the changing “viability of the retail store model” as a factor in the closure.
“An entire generation of people” are foregoing storefronts like Modern Cooperative to shop online, Paige said.
“We feel it’s an opportune time for us to move on,” Paige said. “We can’t afford to be in a situation where we’re struggling to pay our bills. We’re not a big chain with other stores to fall back on.”
Modern Cooperative will remain open 11 a.m.–7 p.m. daily until Feb. 21.The store will then close from Feb. 22-March 1, in preparation for a liquidation sale.
On March 5, the store will with reduced hours, open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The store will be closed Monday-Wednesday.
If necessary, the store will hold final sale events in April. The owners will provide updates on the shop’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
The store’s flagship Pilsen location closed in 2017 after rent hikes and a decrease in sales. At the time, the owners cited a desire to focus on their Hyde Park shop.
Paige and Biersma moved to their current home a few blocks from the Hyde Park store around the time it opened. The neighborhood is a “close-knit community” that “really embraces their small businesses,” Paige said.
Paige said she’s saddened to say goodbye to neighbors and customers, but it is time for the partners and the store to move on. The duo won’t be opening a Dallas storefront or moving their operation online at this time, she said.
“I am from Dallas, and I’ve been wanting to get to warmer weather and lower taxes for quite some time,” Paige said. “We love Chicago; it’s been great to us and we’re going to miss it. [But] we know when it’s time to start a new chapter.”
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