NORWOOD PARK — A Norwood Park car accessory business will make Northwest Highway and Harlem Avenue its new home — eight months after an auto dealer closed and left the high-profile intersection vacant.
Atrendz Auto and Truck Accessory Shoppe, which has been at 6021 N. Northwest Highway since 1988, needs more space, owner Alex Bosak said.
"We wanted to stay in the neighborhood," Bosak said. "I'm from Norwood Park, and a lot of our customers are from here, too. It was important to be close to where we are now."
Atrendz sells car starters, alarms, navigation systems and entertainment packages. Bosak said he hopes the higher visibility of the store at 6333 N. Northwest Highway will help his business grow even more.
The store also offers window tinting and paintless dent removal.
"It is more space than we need," Bosak said, adding that he plans to lease a portion of the 17,000-square-foot building to another business, perhaps a mechanic or another auto services business.
"Hopefully, we will be able to thrive off of each other," Bosak said, adding that he hopes to be open for business at the new location by Thanksgiving, in time for the holiday shopping season.
Bea McDonough, executive director of the Norwood Park Chamber of Commerce, said she was thrilled a new business was opening at Northwest Highway and Harlem, in the heart of the far Northwest Side neighborhood's downtown.
"It is a great spot for a car business," McDonough said, adding that she was happy to see a longtime local business thriving and expanding.
Norwood Park Auto Sales closed in February, after failing to recover after losing its Chrysler dealership as part of the auto company's 2008 bankruptcy, owner Michael Kinsch said.
Atrendz will occupy only the building on the north side of the intersection, Bosak said. The triangular lot on the south side of the intersection, which was once festooned with dozens of American flags and multicolored ribbon streamers to attract shoppers, will remain vacant for now, McDonough said.
