WICKER PARK — A Radio Shack that has been in business since 1986 will be joining a Kmart as the latest retail casualties in a changing Wicker Park shopping mall.
A worker at Radio Shack, 1273 N. Milwaukee Ave., said that a liquidation sale on "select items" will begin on Friday. Bright yellow signs advertising final sale went up in the shop's interior late Thursday.
It was unclear when the store, one of 50 in the Chicago area set to close as part of a bankruptcy filing by the Fort Worth, Texas-based chain, will permanently shutter.
Radio Shack officials did not return calls. A spokesman for the Wicker Park mall said he has not heard yet from Radio Shack on a final date.
A customer hotline assures customers that Radio Shack will be honoring gift cards through March 15.
Also set to close is a shop in Lakeview at 2923 N. Ashland Ave., posted on the chain's website.
The closures are organized by tranches, or stages related to financial risk. The Wicker park store is in the third tranche, indicating it could be among the last wave of stores to close.
"Only 18 stores in Chicago will stay open and we are not one of them," the Wicker Park worker said.
"This whole strip of Milwaukee used to be different. It used to be a real urban shopping community and now it's more lounges and restaurants," said the worker, who grew up in the neighborhood.
Elsewhere in the mall, a large Kmart that has been operating since 1991, is set to close in mid-April. The Kmart will be replaced by a Lowe's Home Improvement store.
The shopping complex, which includes a Jewel grocery store, has seen many tenants exit in recent months. A portion of a closed Staples will be replaced by Ulta cosmetics. Over the summer, a Pet Supplies Plus opened in a 9,000-square-foot space that was once a Wieboldt's department store.
Payless Shoes at 1281 N. Milwaukee Ave. and Oberweis at 1293 N. Milwaukee Ave., closed in 2012, part of the first wave in a string of exits that began with the closure of a Blockbuster movie rental store.
The renovation of the mall, recast as "Wicker Park Commons," has been part of an effort by owner Centrum Partners LLC, to redevelop the mall. The development firm purchased the West Town Shopping Plaza in 2011 for $33 million.
Radio Shack, 1273 N. Milwaukee Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday - Friday; 10 a.m to 8:30 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
