WICKER PARK — Two Milwaukee Avenue resale shops are on the move, one headed to bigger digs on the same street and the other planning to shutter after a 15-year run.
A "Going Out of Business Sale" sign went up in the window of Recycle Designer Men's & Women's Designer Resale at 1474 N. Milwaukee Ave. this week.
Owner Tony Raimondi opened the store 15 years ago, when he said "vacant buildings and Burger King were the neighbors" to the small store near the intersection of Milwaukee and Honore Street.
"The area has changed for the better," Raimondi said.
Today, there's a Native Foods Cafe which opened in 2011 where the Burger King used to be. And directly across the street from Recycle, renowned chef Rick Bayless is planning to open a new restaurant at 1471 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Currently offering 50 percent off all items in the store, Recycle will close by the end of March, Raimondi said.
Raimondi declined to say why he is closing the shop but said regular customers have been "kind of shocked."
"We've been here a long time. There's a lot of resale stores but we have a niche, we're not a teen shop. We have clothing for working professionals, young people needing to dress for business casual and we have some funkier stuff too," Raimondi said.
In other resale news, Ragstock, a resale chain at 1433 N. Milwaukee Ave., has moved into a much larger storefront at 1459 N. Milwaukee Ave.
In November and December, Ragstock operated an Ugly Christmas Sweater Pop-Up shop in the store that's now their new headquarters.
Ragstock's manager Melissa Kmieciak said the move was official as of Thursday and Ragstock's old location is now closed.
