Vacant Storefront Puts Existing Merchants on Display

For the first time in five years, there is merchandise in the windows of the storefront at 18 W. Burlington Ave., in downtown La Grange. The last tenant, a Sprint phone store, moved out in March 2006.

The items on display are a curious and eclectic mishmash: children's outfits and playthings, women's apparel, a touring bicycle—all brand new. There's also a picnic basket, artwork, some pillows and an antique cabinet with a frosted cake inside—real and ready to eat.

Nearly every item in the window is for sale, but you can't buy any of them here. The door is locked. Behind the merchandise, an empty expanse of carpet extends to bare walls. The space still seeks a long-term tenant, as a colorful 'FOR RENT' sign on the window clearly indicates.

So what is all this stuff, and where does one go to buy it? A closer look reveals business cards amongst the merchandise.

The clothing is from and , the bike from , the artwork from the , the cabinet from antiques dealer Kathy McMahon, the cake from the . All are established downtown merchants whose stores are just a short walk away. The toys are from , located in the village's West End business district.

In fact, everything in the window was provided by various La Grange businesses, including an interior designer, Ali B. Hyde, whose own business card is on display.

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Hyde, who resides on Sunset Avenue with her husband, Chris, and their three children, also gets credit for the concept behind the display: turning an empty eyesore window into an eye-catching product potpourri designed to promote existing village businesses.

"Most all of the creativity certainly has been Ali's," Patrick Benjamin, the village's director of community development, said of the project.

Benjamin hired Hyde to create and manage the window display, the most recent in a perpetual effort by the village to fend off any hints of blight that may result from an empty, untended storefront—or several, as is the case in the current economic malaise.

While Benjamin ideally wants to fill every empty storefront with a properous tenant, extended vacancies occur even in good times, he said.

"I try to get into the budget every year something to improve a windowscape—something that is movable, reusable," Benjamin said.

Perhaps the most visible and successful downtown windowscape to date is one on the rear corner of , facing the intersection of La Grange Road and the BNSF rail line. After failing as a bank's ATM location, the small space with its tall, rounded windows was fitted with panels created by the ID Studio that showcase enlarged photos of downtown in its early years.

Should that unusual space ever attract a viable, rent-paying tenant, the diorama can be disassembled and retrofitted to another location, Benjamin said.

"Kind of like what you see in the malls from time to time to make storefronts more visually interesting while they are waiting for tenants," he said.

Benjamin had something similar in mind last autumn when he met Hyde, who at the time was attempting to lend her creative touch to a struggling business in the West End. What began as a simple gratis gesture soon morphed into an almost heroic community-wide effort, only to have its energy unplugged by a landlord who opposed any renovation effort.

"He even threatened to sue me," Hyde, still flabbergasted by the experience, recalled Wednesday as she gave this reporter a show-and-tell of her display at 18 W. Burlington Ave.

The struggling West End business subsequently closed but Hyde's energy, and her ability to organize people and manage a project, impressed Benjamin. So he invited her to a meeting attended by building owners and real estate brokers who view empty storefronts as "one of their top concerns."

Hyde's services were awarded by means of a drawing. The winner, Joel Klecka, a broker associate at , in turn gave the prize to one of his clients, Bob Carlisle, president of Camelot Papers and the owner of the two-story building at 18 W. Burlington Ave.

Designing the window display involved only a few purchases—some fabric panels, a rug, lighting fixtures—everything in the windows was "literally donated off the showroom floor" of the participating merchants.

"My idea was to bring attention to the merchants who are already here, some of whom are struggling [to attract customers in this poor economy]," Hyde said.

Nor is the project costly to a village whose purse strings also have tightened,  Benjamin said.

He estimated the total cost of the project at "a couple thousand" dollars. Aside from purchasing the few needed props, the money will help to reimburse Hyde and her team for their creativity and labor.

One of those team members is Caroline Dillon, also of La Grange, who was assigned the tasks of contacting local merchants, handling promotion and conducting an upcoming survey of Metra commuters as they await morning trains at the station across the street from the windows.

"Have they noticed the windows? Do they like the display? Have they visited any of the participating merchants as a result?" Dillon wants to know.

Since its unveiling two weeks ago, the display already has produced positive results for one of its merchants, Monday's Child. The boutique's owner, Rebekah Knight, attributed store visits from two newcomers, and two phone inquiries, to her participation in the project.

The boutique opened for business last June in the arcade at 26 S. La Grange Rd., after Knight relocated from the Pittsburgh area, where she operated the business for 16 years.

On the other hand, Bruce Glaser, who for 33 years has owned the Wheel Thing bicycle shop at 15 S La Grange Rd., said Wednesday that he is not yet aware of any new customers who have come to the store as a result of the display.

"But I understand the concept, that it keeps the vacant storefronts looking vibrant, and I'm happy to help the community in that regard," Glaser said.

The window display is still a work in progress, Hyde said. She expects more merchants will join in coming days. On Thursday,  became the newest addition to the merchants featured in the display.

"No, we won't have real ice cream cones on display," Hyde said with a laugh. Plastic substitutes will be used instead.

In addition to items on display, Hyde had a painter decorate the windows with images of Spring, including flowers, grass and a leafy tree.

To drive home the project's intent, whimsical script conveys a very direct message: 'SHOP LA GRANGE.' And of course, the painting includes a Coldwell Banker real estate sign with a phone number for Klecka.

Hyde already is looking ahead, hoping that the storefront is just the first of several addresses in the village's business districts where she and her team can employ their skills in the interests of building owners and merchants.

But any future displays would not necessarily include a merchant potpourri.

"Would we carry that through with every storefront? Maybe not," she said. "We're not married to this concept, but it seemed like the quickest way to get things in here at the least cost."

Whatever the next step, "that's up to Patrick [Benjamin]," Hyde said.

"I think it's important as a homeowner here to know that the village is doing something," she said.

In Benjamin's mind, evaluation of the current project is the next step

"We will take a look at it and see what works with the display and see what we might want to do with a future one," he said. "We're also working with the La Grange Art League about displaying some art in its windows, more on a volunteer basis."

Benjamin is anxious to see how building owners and businesses respond to the Burlington Avenue display. He noted that, shortly after it went up, a neighboring business spruced up its own window display.

"I don't know if it was cause and effect, but it's always good to see people freshening up their storefronts," he said.