LITTLE VILLAGE — About half the vendors at the Little Village Discount Mall will be kicked out the mall next month — and the area’s alderman is threatening legal action unless the vendors are given a new agreement.
Novak Construction, the owner of the mall and its plaza, said Monday a longterm agreement was reached Pilsen Plaza Corporation, one of two operators of the Discount Mall, and that operator will continue to lease their part to vendors. But because Novak failed to come to an agreement with the other operator, some vendors must vacate their booths by March 26, operator PK Mall said in a letter.
PK Mall representatives told vendors the contract they would’ve had to agree to with Novak was “unreasonable” and “unsustainable in the long run.”
“The proposed rent increase would have made it impossible for us to continue providing the same value and support to our vendors for which we have always strived,” PK Mall management wrote. “It was a difficult decision, but we simply could not accept a deal that would have compromised our ability to serve you and the larger Mall community.”
PK Mall recommended vendors run “an end-of-the-Discount Mall sales event to liquidate your merchandise and reduce losses.”
After March 26, vendors won’t have access to the mall, and anything left behind will be thrown away, PK Mall said in the letter.
What Novak plans to do with that half of the mall remains unclear.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), who has supported the Discount Mall vendors, said during a community meeting Thursday night that he wants to see an agreement that won’t displace anyone.
“We want a deal that permits us to expand job opportunities and not lose job openings,” the alderman said in Spanish.
Sigcho-Lopez said Novak has until Feb. 24 to make a deal with all vendors before he looks into “legal actions.”
“If there is no agreement, we will begin legal actions and also look for other options, like a cooperative system that allows us to work with people who are actually interested in investing and working with the community,” he said.
Before Monday’s announcement, plans surrounding the Discount Mall and the shopping plaza at 3045-3117 W. 26th St. had been uncertain for years. The property was sold to Novak in February 2020 for $17.5 million, the Sun-Times reported. At the time, Novak’s president suggested the mall might not be the best use of the land and alluded to bringing chain stores to the area.
A spokesperson for the company previously said bringing in big-box chain stores was never the intention. The company couldn’t announce specific plans while it was negotiating with the mall operators over the past year, the spokesperson said.
In August, contracts for vendors at the mall were about to expire, and vendors said they still hadn’t received information about the owner’s plans. After the alderperson’s office intervened, Novak Construction extended the vendors’ contracts through the end of January.
Vendors, city officials and Novak leaders met Thursday to discuss plans going forward for the small business owners.
Sigcho-Lopez said Novak’s plans were light on details. He called on city officials to suspend any permits or licensing for work on the Discount Mall until there is more transparency in the agreement with the mall operator and a fair agreement for the vendors left out.
In a statement, Novak spokespeople said they welcomed the “opportunity to share additional details and correct misinformation” about their plans for the Little Village plaza.
“As reported, the renovation will include new building facades and roofs, a new surface parking lot, and new lighting, landscaping, and signage,” the statement said. “The result will be a safer, more welcoming environment for shoppers and residents alike. The community deserves a beautiful place to shop. We want this to be a destination and local asset for years to come.”
Novak spokespeople declined to comment further.
Vendor leader Kocoy Malagon said Thursday it is “insulting” to have vendors kicked out and be told to open their businesses elsewhere in the neighborhood. She is one of the several vendors under PK Mall who has been told to leave by March 26.
“We are united. We are family,” she said in Spanish. “And nobody, absolutely nobody, is going to be displaced in such an inhumane way under what Novak Construction is proposing.
“We are open to progress; we’ve always said that. We are open to them bringing good chains, to Little Village shining better — more clean, more attractive — but always including the people who worked to make this community what it is.”
Irais Miranda, another vendor whose space operates under PK Mall, said it was “frustrating” to hear he and other vendors have just less than a month to empty out their businesses.
“We don’t think it’s right to displace us,” Miranda said. “We want to stay, to be part of the progress of life in Chicago and Little Village. It’s an economic and cultural environment that we think deserves to be respected. We think we deserve the opportunity for all the Mexican families that have been here to continue united.”
In a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office confirmed city officials attended Thursday’s meeting with Novak, vendors and Ald. Sigcho-Lopez and pledged to support the vendors who might be pushed out.
“As advocates for a thriving business community in Chicago, the City’s economic development team will work with the Discount Mall vendors to develop solutions and alternative locations in Little Village to ensure our residents and small business owners are supported and can thrive,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:
