LINCOLN PARK — School's out, and Amazon's in at the Banana Republic Factory Store building at 2720 N. Clark St.
Amazon said Tuesday it will be opening a new pickup outlet next to the Banana Republic, below a spot previously reserved for Altschool, an innovative, San Francisco-based private education firm.
"We are excited to bring a third, fully staffed pickup location to Chicago at 2720 N. Clark St., where customers will have the option to ship Amazon orders, process returns for free and get help from an onsite Amazon associate when needed," said company spokeswoman Carly Golden.
Set to open in October on the ground floor next to the Banana Republic Factory outlet, it will be Amazon's third pickup store in the city and fourth in the state, but the first that's separate from a college campus. Others have opened at the University of Illinois at Chicago and on the main campus in Urbana-Champaign, and another is set to open this fall near DePaul University.
It's separate and distinct from the Amazon bookstore that opened earlier this year in Lakeview.
Instead, it will be a pickup location and drop-off spot for returned items. Amazon Prime customers will even be able to arrange one-day or sometimes even same-day delivery on items.
Altschool had been expected to take on more than 100 students paying $25,000 in annual tuition. A spokeswoman said Altschool instead would try to partner with other independent education companies in the city, and it is subleasing its space on the second floor of the building.
"We're in the process of actively reaching out to local Chicago schools to collaborate and help support the work they're doing to improve education quality for their students," Altschool spokeswoman Maggie Quale said. "We've hired a longtime Chicago educator, Vicky Maisey, who is based there to work directly with school leaders."
According to Quale, any teachers or school administrators interested in joining that effort can submit an online application or email Altschool directly at open@altschool.com.
