Near West, partners revitalize retail

• Ed Finkel
• November 6, 2008

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A year after its launch, the ambitious-sounding Madison Street Retail Revitalization Initiative in the West Haven neighborhood is starting to live up to its name.

Housed at NCP lead agency the Near West Side Community Development Corp., the initiative is reseeding a once-teeming business district that became a virtual ghost town after the 1968 riots. (For an earlier article when the initiative opened, please click here.)

In recent weeks, the area near Madison Street between Ashland and Western has seen a new tenant opening virtually every week, said Michael Quinlan, program manager for the retail initiative, who describes the effort as a cross between a Chamber of Commerce and a Special Service Area (in which businesses jointly handle garbage pick-up and other services).

“The Partnership for New Communities grant has allowed us to create a hybrid,” he said. “It’s allowed us to take the best of both and fuse them.”

Near West has stepped up marketing efforts that include West Haven bumper stickers reading “Pride of the Near West Side,” soon-to-be-unfurled street banners, an online retail needs survey, and online directory entries that total about 30.

“The goal is to get an online, in-depth interview with all of them,” said Quinlan. “Week by week, we get a new best friend.”

The street-banner piece led to an unexpected synergy. Efforts to include student artwork among the banner designs evolved into matching artistically talented students with storefront owners who were happy to have their windows spruced up.

“That was a happy little accident,” said Quinlan. “It was a way to offer existing commercial property owners something nice that was free, that would give some vibrancy and vitality. It made a unique connection between students and business owners, through art.”

Near West has further supported retail by bringing the Cleanslate Chicago trash pick-up and street beautification program to the community, and by building and maintaining positive relationships with the police – in part through its work on the CAPS CLEARpath community-police website.

Cleanslate is a private neighborhood beautification business that cleans sidewalks, parkways, public gardens and vacant lots. It also educates residents and businesses about the importance of recycling, and helps with those efforts.

“Those are the two fundamentals: cleaning and safety,” said Quinlan. “If you’re a customer or a business owner, cleaning and safety are your base.”

Cleanslate, he added, provides some of both. “If you’re having them just pick up litter, you’ve completely missed the point. You have a group of five eyes and ears who can identify safety issues.”

When the Madison Street Retail Revitalization Initiative kicked off in November 2007, Near West and its partners had fresh data from LISC/MetroEdge that showed West Haven lacks retail stores in categories like groceries, dry cleaning, and hardware, with a net $70 million spent outside the community on goods and services annually.

The quality-of-life plan update published in early 2008 identified commercial development as a high priority for West Haven now that residential development has taken off, with $425 million of investment since 2000, and median income has risen 275 percent during that same time period.

Among the recent businesses to open along the Madison Street strip have been:

Jean Works , 2400 W. Madison St. , which sells overstock private-label jeans for $20 for adults and $10 for kids.

Shoomi: A Shoe Boutique , 22 S. Western Ave. , which opened Oct. 18 and sells shoes and accessories.

Tonya’s Hush Boutique , 34 S. Ashland Ave. , which provides upscale clothing and accessories – and features window artwork from Dett Elementary students.

BOMBON Café , 36 S. Ashland Ave., which serves casual Mexican food.

Photo: Mike Quinlan, Near West CDC

The Cleanslate initiative provides more than just trash pick-up.

Sinha’s Elegant Cuisine , 2018 W. Adams St. , which serves Brazilian dishes – and culture.

Gentle Wash Mobile Detail , no fixed address , which provides car-wash services delivered right to your doorstep in a community with no car wash.

Sweet Café , at Madison and Western , which will open later this fall.

A detailed West Haven Now shopping guide will come off the presses in the near future. Meanwhile, to learn more about the Madison Street Retail Revitalization Initiative, visit www.westhavennow.org. And for dozens more photos of West Haven businesses, click through to Near West Side CDC's Flickr photostream. 

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Business development, Crime/safety, Planning process, Retail development