WICKER PARK — Following City Soles' eviction from the famed "High Fidelity" storefront earlier this month, three Chicago-based artists and an Italian boot maker say their goods are trapped in the locked up storefront and their profits are frozen in the shoe store owner's bankruptcy proceedings.
"I am still a struggling artist, I put all of my time and money into my work and I cannot afford to not be paid and lose my inventory," said Stephany Colunga, owner of House of Colunga, a handcrafted jewelry brand.
Since 2009, Colunga has been selling her work on consignment, meaning that she gives the store her items at no charge and once the products are sold, the profits are evenly split between Colunga and City Soles.
Currently, Colunga's inventory of about 50 handmade pieces is trapped inside of the former City Soles storefront at 1415 N. Milwaukee Ave., which is locked and not accessible even to the landlord as his tenant proceeds through bankruptcy court, the building's owner told Colunga in an email.
On Feb. 8, Cook County sheriff's police evicted City Soles, the first tenants in decades at the previously boarded up spot.
The shop's owner, Scott Starbuck, said he is currently going through a bankruptcy.
Elgin Company Holdings, a firm headed by Harry Seigle, a prominent businessman and investor, brought Starbuck to court in November for lack of payback on a line of credit, court records show. Seigle said approximately $175,000 is owed to him for credit dating back five years.
Starbuck declined to comment on the case with Seigle, but said that his accounts are currently frozen and he cannot pay any of the promised profits to artists from the holiday season sales.
"The bankruptcy trustee has control at this point and we always honor our indie artists. We are just going through the process; it just takes time," Starbuck said.
Starbuck was unable to provide a timeline of when the bankruptcy proceedings could end.
Colunga said she's been told by the shop's manager that some of her necklaces, rings, and earrings were sold in December and January, but she had not been told which pieces were sold or how many.
Colunga said she estimates the profits owed to her could be anywhere between $200 - $600.
On Jan. 8, Colunga and six other artists who display work in the shop got an email about the store closing from the shop's manager.
After trying to arrange a time to come in and pick up her jewelry, Colunga said she was told by a manager that they thought her new collection was a good fit for a new store that could reopen in about a month somewhere else.
"Seeing as I have been with them for a long time, I decided I would just have them transfer my inventory with them while I was in Mexico," Colunga said.
Emailing from Mexico, where she is participating in a silversmithing project, Colunga said she is still trying to find out what is going on with her inventory and payment overdue for items sold over the holidays.
"City Soles houses my more upscale one-of-a-kind items, which are much more time consuming and pricier materials for me to work with. It's stressful for me to be away and not know what will happen with my work," Colunga said.
Two other jewelry makers, both of whom declined to be named, are owed close to $2000 for rings and necklaces sold during the holiday season, they said.
One maker of hand-crafted metal accessories said she awaiting payment for 30 pieces sold in November, December and the early part of January.
"It has been a very stressful situation. I am having faith in Scott [Starbuck] to work this out peacefully and follow through with payment as promised," the artist said.
About two weeks ago, the artist said Starbuck told her that he will pay her as soon as his accounts are freed up.
Marco Delli, an Italian boot maker, was so frustrated that he created an Instagram account, "givememymoneycitysoles2," which he is using for the purpose of getting the store's attention over social media.
"You owe $4,600.00 Over Due [sic] since December 2014. We just decided to take this step to see if you are a respectable business man and pay the money you owe and that we worked so hard for. You know how to reach us and how to resolve this situation ASAP," Delli wrote in an Instagram comment.
Reached on Friday, Delli said Starbuck bought 69 handmade boots from him in September and November 2014 and that $4,600 from that sale is still owed to him.
Delli said he created the Instagram account "last December as last frontier, after we left a message and said if he doesn't call back that's what we were going to do."
"I have been in this business for many years and I have to say the A/R [Accounts/Receivables] is always the most difficult and disappointing part of it. As designers and owners we are putting so much into it in terms of creativity, travel, stress, hours and investments, when these things happen its really painful and disappointing." Delli said.
In a YouTube video on City Soles TV, Starbuck describes Delli's boots as "off the hook," amazing and "life long shoes that you will have the rest of your life."
The boots are hand pegged and hand nailed, made by Delli.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
