PORTAGE PARK — Sputnik Books & Records launched Sunday in the Irving Austin Business District, bringing a blast from the past to Portage Park.
Coincidentally, the book and record store opened at 6034 W. Irving Park Road on the 58th anniversary of its namesake Soviet satellite's blast into the cosmos, which started the Space Race, said owner Joe Basilone.
Sputnik — a book and record store complete with a listening station — will join the Thrift & Thrive resale shop and the Perkolator Cafe owned by Joe and Melissa Basilone on Irving Park Road.
The store will have "cool, retro, lounge-y, comfy" vibe next to Perkolator which opened a year ago and has become a neighborhood institution, Basilone said.
Sputnik will connect to Perkolator, which offers fresh-brewed coffee and locally made pastries, salads, sandwiches and soups, Joe Basilone said.
It will have about a dozen seats to encourage shoppers to sit down and stay a while, Basilone said.
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