WICKER PARK — Gift shop and home goods store Neighborly is closing its Wicker Park storefront.
Jenny Beorkrem opened Neighborly, 1909 W. Division St., in 2019 to showcase products from local makers and artists. That includes items from Ork Posters, Beorkrem’s other business where she designs city neighborhood maps and apparel.
But after three years in Wicker Park, Beorkrem said the location was too large and no longer made financial sense, especially after she cut costs during the pandemic. The store’s last day in business will be April 24.
Neighborly will continue operating its other brick-and-mortar storefront in Lincoln Square, 4710 N. Lincoln Ave., while Beorkrem looks for another location ideally in the Wicker Park area.
“Our other location in Lincoln Square is quite a bit smaller and does almost as well as the Division Street location,” she said. “So we’re going to just try to find something that kind of mimics what we have in Lincoln Square, that’s a little bit smaller, but maybe a little bit better spot, most likely a corner space or something like that.”
Beorkrem opened Neighborly to act as an in-person hub for her designs and other products from local makers and artisans, with a focus on ethically made goods. That includes candles, jewelry, greeting cards and many other items.
“You just don’t get the same sense for the product until you see it in person as you do when you look at it online,” she said. “That was a lot of the motivation, to create a home for those types of products here in Chicago, not that others weren’t doing so but really making that commitment to largely sourcing everything from independent makers or smaller batch makers.”
Beorkrem said the store matched well with tastes and preferences of shoppers in Wicker Park. She’s looking at storefronts on Division Street, Chicago Avenue, Milwaukee Avenue and elsewhere, but didn’t have a specific timeline to share for a reopening.
“We were really hoping to be able to tell people where we were going and when, but we don’t have anything solidified yet,” she said. “We definitely want to find the right spot for us,” she said.
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