WICKER PARK — Rumors swirling around the neighborhood are true: Adidas, the German-based athletic shoe giant, is opening a shop along Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park.
Adidas got its business license for 1532 N. Milwaukee Ave. last week, city records show.
An Adidas spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment on the new outpost, which will be the brand's fourth in the city.
Joseph Dushey, a vice president with New York-based Jenel Management Corporation, which bought the building in 2013, confirmed Adidas as the new tenant. "I am very happy about it," Dushey said.
Steve Lipe, a local partner who works with Dushey, said that the store will be an "Adidas Originals" shop.
"We're building a spectacular space for them with 25-foot-high ceilings," said Lipe, who confirmed the store will take over the entire building, which was previously divided into two storefronts.
Elsewhere in the city, Adidas has outposts at 900 North Michigan Avenue and in the Water Tower Place mall, as well as one "Adidas Originals" store at 923 N. Rush St. in the Gold Coast.
In addition to shoes, Adidas Originals offers a line of casual sportswear apparel such as shirts and coats, plus bags, sunglasses and other accessories.
Empty since Rodan Lounge closed in Sept. 2014 and Reckless Records relocated up the street in 2015, the vintage 10,000-square-foot building along a busy block has been undergoing a remodeling to bring in one tenant for the two-story structure.
Just south of Wicker Park's Milwaukee, Damen and North avenues intersection, the spot was billed in a commercial real estate listing as "one of the best buildings in all of Wicker Park."
Adidas employs more than 55,000 people in over 160 countries and saw sales of $17 billion in 2015, according to its website.
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