Carson's New 'Close to Home' Department Showcases Local Artisans

Chicago-area Carson’s stores are celebrating in a distinctly Illinois way this holiday season with the opening of new in-store shops that offer a selection of specialty products and gifts sourced from local artisans.
Evergreen Plaza, Chicago Ridge Mall and Ford City Mall Carson’s stores are launching the “Close to Home” shops just in time for the holidays. These distinctive shops will remain open year round.

“As the Chicago region’s hometown department store, we take great pride in showcasing products made and sourced right here in our local communities,” Yorktown Center Carson’s store manager Dave Schlaak said in a news release. “Carson’s regional merchandising team has carefully curated a select offering of specialty products from Illinois artisans that provide our customers with a hometown shopping experience full of fun, unique and giftable items.”

The Carson’s “Close to Home” shops feature products from several Illinois entrepreneurs that range in price from $3 to $125. Items include funky t-shirt designs that reinterpret subway maps, street signs, city seals and flags from Transit Tees; eco-friendly candles made from upcycled wine bottles by the husband and wife team behind the Chicago Candle Company; a selection of frames and sports-related wall art from family-owned Kindred Hearts; and a variety of specialty items from other vendors. In addition to the in-store experience, customers will be able to purchase these local items online starting in this month.

Other Chicago-area Carson’s stores where the “Close to Home” shops will be available include Yorktown Center, Edens Plaza, Harlem Irving Plaza and West Louis Joliet Mall.

ILLINOIS “CLOSE TO HOME” VENDORS AND PRODUCTS

• Chitown Clothing, Chicago. Founded in 2009, Chitown Clothing is a Chicago-based apparel company that aims to capture this great city’s creativity, wit, history and rich culture through super soft t-shirts and meticulously designed graphics. Husband and wife Kevin and Sara Kasarski created Chitown Clothing in order to combine civic pride with their entrepreneurial spirit.

• Transit Tees, Chicago. Transit Tees takes visuals from Chicago's metropolitan landscapes and transforms them into fashionable artwork. The brand was founded in 2001 by Tim Gillengerten, a creative director who aspired to build an apparel line that reinterprets subway maps, street signs, city seals and flags in ways that the public had never seen beforeTransit Tees, an official manufacturer for the Chicago Transit Authority, designs, fabricates and retails their signature brand throughout Chicagoland, including their flagship store in Wicker Park.

• Chicago Candle Co., Chicago. Chicago Candle Co. started in 2012 by the husband and wife Fernando and Sara Velarde. Every candle is handmade in an upcycled wine bottle with 100% soy wax and intoxicating fragrances. They had been working in a restaurant and knew all the used wine bottles were going straight to the trash, so they created a way to repurpose them.

• PubsOf, Chicago. PubsOf, founded in 2007, is an incredible collection of unique street scenes from all over, conceived and hand painted by artist Brian McKelvey. Along with PubsOf president Jeff Kane, the team physically visits towns to get a sense for what makes that town unique, and then creates art that depicts how the locals and visitors feel about their town and what is important to them. PubsOf offers posters, prints and canvas framed and unframed as well as glassware for each scene.

• Kindred Hearts and KH Sports Fan, Plainfield. This family-run business started in the basement of a small Illinois town more than 17 years ago. In time, the business was sold, and the family members each went in different directions with their individual careers. However, they came to realize their best times were working together and reignited Kindred Hearts. The company now manufactures their unique line of frames and wall art in two large warehouses – a big move up from the basement.

“Close to Home” is part of the retailer’s mission to serve as a hometown store destination that reflects the tastes and shopping preferences of its local communities. The company anticipates expanding the number of store locations with these specialty shops.