NOBLE SQUARE— An online shop specializing in vintage sportswear from the '80s and '90s as well as concert and rock T-shirts is opening a storefront along Ashland Avenue to augment its online presence.
"Most of the people that buy stuff off of us say they had it as a kid or wanted it as a kid," said Anthony Jankun, who owns Boneyard Chicago, along with business partner Jacob Sachen.
The 1,100 square-foot shop at 917 N. Ashland Ave. is across from Wells High School and just south of the CTA Division Blue Line "L" stop. Jankun said it will likely open next week.
Before launching Boneyard Chicago about eight months ago, Jankun and Sachen were selling wares separately on eBay under the names "Snapback to the future" and "Island Soles," respectively.
Jankun said he and Sachen could not come up with a name for their store, so they gave themselves a one-week deadline. During the week, Jankun drove past a junkyard and thought about the fact people used to call junkyards "boneyards."
"I ran it by Jacob. He liked it. We wanted to take the next step [with a store]. Online, you can only do so much."
Jankun said the proximity to Wicker Park was a draw, as well as the store's exposed brick walls.
"It fit us," he said.
Most of the items in Boneyard have never been worn and are "dead stock." In the late '80s and early '90s, many sports stores ordered so much stock that certain items never left back rooms and are known as dead stock.
Andrea Miller, owner of Miller Chicago Real Estate, helped Sachen and Jankon to find the right storefront.
"They wanted to be in the Wicker Park area. They liked Ashland because Milwaukee is over-saturated and they can be the hottest thing on the block of Ashland and grow their reach from there," Miller said.
Boneyard Chicago will be open from 10 a.m.-8 p.n. Mondays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. Follow updates on the store's Instagram, boneyard_chicago.
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