If you want to know what draws people to Blue Island’s four-block stretch of Western Avenue–the one starting at New Street and ending at the Calumet Sag Channel–stop and chat with Herta Iversen.
You’ll find her most afternoons behind the pastries, pies, doughnuts and breads at Iversen’s Bakery, 12948 S. Western Ave., a shop that Iversen, 70, and her husband, Al, have owned for 43 years.
Herta Iversen can tell you about this chunk of Western Avenue and how “a lot of the old stores are gone. Sears. Wards. Tiny Tots. . . . There’s been lots of change.”
She also will tell you how a strong sense of neighborhood has kept the area alive, with longtime retailers welcoming a number of antiques emporiums, bustling food shops, comfy eateries, doctors offices, banks, beauty salons and flower shops.
“We have loyal customers. They still come back [to shop here],” said Iversen, especially for the specialties such as strudel and kringle made by Al plus their son Chris and daughter-in-law Monica, the young couple who took over the bakery in May.
Sandy Quinn and Patti Jo Nagel would agree with Iversen about the area’s draw on longtime residents and newcomers. With their mom, Carole Mitchel, the sisters opened the Gossip Cafe, a comfortable coffeehouse at 12947 S. Western Ave., last November and crammed it full of memorabilia. Now folks stop for their morning coffee on their way to the nearby Metra station or, in the evening, for comedy, poetry or trivia night.
Quinn, whose family has lived in Blue Island for four generations, has watched the up-and-down fortunes of Western Avenue through the years. “We just happened to get on the good side,” she said. “It’s more neighborhood-like now.”
A wonderfully global one at that, whether it’s the German and Danish specialties at Iversen’s, the tamales and produce at the Mexican groceries or the pastas and sauces at the Italian deli. Said Quinn: “Blue Island was always a multicultural community and it remains that way.”
The neighborhood feel drew Ramona Diaz to an empty storefront here some five years ago. When she opened Evita’s Bridal Shop, 13004 S. Western Ave., she had only a few wedding cake toppers and a few dresses.
“It was so empty in here,” she said. “And when we first started, a lot of the places along the street were vacant.”
Now there are fewer empty storefronts along Western, and Evita’s, which she runs with daughter Monica Montoya, is filled with snow-white wedding gowns and a rainbow of party dresses–not to mention busy brides-to-be such as Jania Coleman, 20, who was being fitted for her October wedding one recent afternoon.
None of the increased activity along Western surprises Kevin McDermott. He arrived in Blue Island 20 years ago when his wife, Debbie, took a job at nearby St. Francis Hospital.
“I’ve done a lot of renovation in the town over the past 20 years,” said McDermott, who is in medical sales and serves on the town’s preservation commission. “I just fell in love with bringing back to life the older buildings.”
So, it seems, have a lot of other people, some longtime residents, others younger couples drawn to Blue Island’s mix of housing–historic homes and smaller homes–plus a sense of community, according to lifetime resident and former alderman Mary Poulsen.
That sense of community coupled with the town’s facade program–essentially, a money-matching program to help building owners who wanted to renovate–spurred a face lift along this stretch of Western. One of McDermott’s big projects was a defunct department store. After researching the building’s history, he found out that it was once an opera house. Sure enough, once he pulled off all the 1950s porcelain metal covering the exterior, he found the original brick.
Today, the building at 13114 S. Western Ave. houses MaryAnn Lawson antiques; Through the Looking Glass, a decorative accessories shop; and Carr Gardens, a garden-focused store.
For many, visitors and residents alike, the antiques stores along this stretch of Western Avenue are its big attraction. There is the huge Three Sisters Antique Mall (13042 S. Western), the Blue Island Emporium (13037-39) and Yesteryear Antiques (13123). And there is a newcomer called Will’s Mom Antiques (13021), run by Sharon Brown who is, yes, Will’s mom.
Another of the blocks’ big draws? The delis, groceries and bakeries.
Stop into Calabria Imports, 13012 S. Western, most any day and you will find customers gathered at the deli counter at the back of the 27-year-old shop, beyond the baskets of nuts, bottles of olive oil and loaves of Italian bread. They are there to talk with owners Pat Roberto or Dario Carrieri, to discuss the latest pulled-from-the-oven goody–“That smells like rosemary and garlic,” opined one shopper–or to grab a sandwich, some sausage, cheese, pasta or sauce.
A few doors away, John Gorajski is behind the counter at El Molino Bakery, 13030 S. Western. The wood-and-glass cases edging the shop’s interior are filled with Italian, Mexican and French sweets. There are loaves of crusty Italian bread, Mexican bolillos and sugar-topped conchas. Owner Gorajski had other bakeries in Chicago, but set up shop on Western Avenue 11 years ago. Of Polish, Italian and French descent, Gorajski was born in Argentina, so on weekends, he makes special baked treats from his homeland that draw Argentines from as far away as Arlington Heights.
An array of fresh fruits and vegetables–chayotes, tomatillos–for preparing Latin American dishes as well as a meat market and Sunday-only tamales can be found at Supermercado Imelda, 13034-38 S. Western. For another sensory overload, there is My Dollar & Up (13054), a store crammed to the ceiling with everything from Elvis pictures and indoor water fountains to wide-eyed ceramic children and Virgin of Guadalupe images. We could scoot you over the bridge and around the bend to Olde Western Avenue and a handful of restaurants–including the much-lauded Maple Tree Inn run by Charles Orr–but that’s another story, and a whole other bunch of blocks.
Chill out, then pack the cooler for home
Head to Western Avenue with an appetite–and maybe a cooler. A cooler? Should you decide to, say, purchase Italian sausage or chorizo–or maybe some fresh mozzarella cheese or creamy flan–a cooler would be a wise accessory for those who might easily be distracted for several hours by all the antiques shops.
When you do stop to refuel, there are several sit-down contenders in this four-block stretch from DeMars Restaurant to Harry’s Long Bar, including:
Island’s Cafe Trattoria Italiano, 13000 S. Western, where pastas, sandwiches and salads are among the draws.
Double Play Saloon, 13011 S. Western, which has sports on the tube, a long bar edged with stools and a string of bar eats.
The Gossip Cafe, 12947 S. Western, where all sorts of coffees, plain and snazzy, as well as sweets, soups, sandwiches and salads are offered.
–Judy Hevrdejs
Don’t let your sugar show
Think casual and comfortable–in the clothing and shoes department. There is nothing wrong with wearing black and navy blue, though they can become casualties if you decide to indulge in sweets doused in powdered sugar.
If you are an inveterate nibbler–and we admit it, we are–stick to washable clothing.
Savvy antique shoppers avoid huge tote bags, which can knock over a delicate piece of china.
— J.H.
