LAKEVIEW — Bow Truss Coffee Roasters will open a new shop at a relatively deserted Lakeview corner with hopes of spurring more development, its founder said Wednesday.
Bow Truss will replace Bel-Port Liquors at 1362 W. Belmont Ave., hopefully within the next six months, said owner Phil Tadros. The storefront will be gutted and remodeled, but exact dates are still in the works as the specialty coffee company maps out a schedule for a handful of new locations.
The Southport Corridor blog first reported Bel-Port Liquors' closure in March.
Nearby, the Bow Truss at Lincoln and Paulina will open soon, joined by coffee shops in Uptown, Wicker Park/Bucktown, Old Irving Park, Evanston and Mariano Park. By the time the Southport location opens, Bow Truss will have 21 locations in Chicago, plus one in Beverly Hills, California.
RELATED: Bow Truss Is The Biggest Indie Coffee Shop In Chicago. Now What?
Currently, there are seven open Bow Truss locations.
Tadros knows Bow Truss will have its work cut out for it at Southport and Belmont — a corner that has been a tough one to do business. Flat Top Grill and Standout Style Boutique closed recently, while Dojo Chicago and Burger Boss previously shuttered.
Still, with Schubas and Harmony Grill nearby, "it's a pretty awesome corner," Tadros said. "We're pretty excited to help revitalize [it]."
The corner is a couple blocks south of the flourishing Southport Corridor, where national chains have contributed to higher rental prices some say are unaffordable for local entrepreneurs. The new Bow Truss will also be just a short walk from the Brown Line Southport "L" station and north of the Lincoln Hub.
Renovations will include adding more windows, and Bow Truss hopes to partner with another eatery to open in the space just behind the coffee shop. While a recent rendering shows a FoxTrot coffee bar in the space, Tadros said that's not in the current plans.
"We're just trying to make specialty coffee more approachable," Tadros said. "We want to make it more common and easier to grab."
RELATED:
• Bow Truss Is The Biggest Indie Coffee Shop In Chicago. Now What?
• Can Southport Stay Charming, Or Will National Chains Drive Out Diversity?
• Bow Truss Says It's Bringing Good Coffee — Not Gentrification — To 'Hoods
• Standout Style Latest To Exit Emptying Belmont-Southport Corner
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