Happy days are here again. That's how neighbors felt when the Supreme Court issued the mandate on Monday and the Department of Permits issued a order revoking the liquor licenses of Sun Liquors at 1101 West Granville and Granville liquors at 1100 West Granville. Commander Rottner said, "we got the okay from the Supreme Court, we're all in good favor."
The 24th district sergeant personally served the order and slapped the signs on the doors at 2:30PM today. The two stores in the 32nd precinct of the 48th ward are required to immediately cease and desist or face criminal charges. The stores have up to 48 hours to remove all liquor.
"Pat Sharkey and her law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw have provided pro bono legal representation to the community all through the "Vote Dry" contest. It is finally over and we can get back to the business of making Granville safer and more customer friendly," said Sheli A. Lulkin the Executive Director of the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce.
Resident complaints I overheard as they were talking to the reporters on the scene. The same we deal with on Morse Avenue with Soo Liquors. Drinking on the street, open air drug dealing, selling to minors, loitering, panhandling, peeing on the streets and the non-stop fighting. One neighbor said "20 years of hell, it's finally over."
Neither owner would comment, and both businesses weren't too happy to see all the media attention.
A reporter asked me why I was there. I told him I was there to learn how to close a 'bad for the neighborhood' liquor business. Later, the same reporter asked me if there was anything I learned while watching what was going on in my efforts to close Soo Liquors. On my way home I finally had the right answer. I'll be old and grey.
22 comments:
Granville going dry is nothing short of fucking ridiculous!!! I'm beyond furious! I live a block away from the Granville/Winthrop Aves and this,at the very least,is an inconveinence for me! You can't imagine how pissed I was when I got home from work looking forward to getting a 6pack and whiskey when I saw both Granville and Sun Liquors closed and cited. Sure,things happen like crime and such when there are liquor stores around but that's the nature of the beast,isn't it? Besides,both the police and Loyola rent-a-cops had made thier presence so pronounced within the area for the last two years,crime was actually going DOWN. I wasn't seeing panhandlers,drunken fights or winos hanging out in from of the stores anymore. And to those people who complained about it,I just say,TOO FUCKING BAD! It's the city. Move to Evanston or Schaumburg if you can't deal.
But you know who this vote hurts the most? The store owners,of course.They now have to worry whether or not they can stay in business whilst being a dry establishment. Did the Edgewater Chamber Of Commerce ever think about that before slowly ruining these folks' livelihoods!?!
The less liquor stores, the better. We have way too many; in fact, five outlets in a one block area of Damen, Rogers, Touhy, and Ridge area. The Lamplighter and The Ho are enough.
I am tired of picking up Colt 45 and empty pints from the three small grocers. Too many guzzle on the street. When you give them a look, what you hear and see is nothing good. We won't lose the losers with that many liquor stores and bars.
If I buy, I take the excursion and hit Binny's, Dominicks, or Sam's. Its a better selection, so why not stock up. I also take stock in Kentucky.
Those who need the juice the least won't even walk to Dominicks. I am tired of inconsiderate alcoholics in the neighborhood. Turn on the blowdryer Moore!
Well Kyle, sounds like you are not part of the problem. But for 20 years the area has been plagued by problems stemming directly from both liquor stores. The owners had plenty of notice to clean up their act. And it is not as if you have to LEAVE THE COUNTY to purchase your beer etc.
Do the people near Morse Avenue feel the same as the majority of Granville residents do by voting the area DRY?
It's time for a VOTE on whether MORSE SHOULD BE DRY. Go to http:www.votemorsedry.blogspot.com/
If Granville was taken dry, then surely Morse should be.
I spend a lot of time on Granville, and was never endangered or even annoyed there. I guess I wasn't on the street late enough, or when the various incidents took place.
Morse is much, much worse and should have gone dry years ago.
"The less liquor stores, the better."
Have you been to Uptown over by Wilson lately? Or Division and Damen in Wicker Park? Hell,let's just go for the jugular:Belmont and Sheffield in Lakeview. All three hoods have one thing in common:they have a shitload of liquor stores in thier immediate precincts(more than us,definitely) and have yet to be shut down.Particularly the Lakeview and Wicker Parks locales,that receive more proverbial traffic and have 4am bars. Next,you'll be wanting the shut down the neighborhood bars,too?
"I am tired of picking up Colt 45 and empty pints from the three small grocers."
Why are you picking up their garbage? No one asked you to do clean-up for them.
"If I buy, I take the excursion and hit Binny's, Dominicks, or Sam's."
And Dominick's selection is about as comparable to that of the CVS Pharmacy over on Granville and Broadway. Both have/had the same quality of liquor as the Granville and Sun stores. Hell, the only place to get any decent wine(before Dominicks did a total re-design to their Broadway store)were these two,now dry, businesses. Best of all,they made recommendations on various brands.A personal touch and top customer service. I've yet to see the folks at Dominick's do that.
"But for 20 years the area has been plagued by problems stemming directly from both liquor stores. The owners had plenty of notice to clean up their act."
Clean up their act how? Hire a rent-a-cop to patrol the corner until 1am? Like I said in the last post, police patrolling the area had reduced crime significantly. Hell,I felt the neighborhood was ten times safer knowing that both the CPD and Loyola security were making their presence perfectly clear to any suspicious lot.
"Morse is much, much worse and should have gone dry years ago."
And you're surprised by this? Look,anyone who's a native of Chicago and/or the north side know that Rogers Park and Edgewater have had a reputation of being a rough area. It's also one of the few places in the city that still had a heavy concentration of local businesses and mom/pop stores. That includes liquor stores. You want to ruin how some people earn a living by making them go dry just because you can't handle a little urban blight? This is the city,after all. Why can't you just deal?
And seriously,is this what we have to look forward to in the next 5-10 years? Chambers of Commerce and local residents systematically shutting down any business that has the slightest questionable clientele? First Granville,then Morse,then Jarvis,etc? I'd expect that kind of bullshit whiny nitpicking and elitist witchhunting from gentrified knuckleheads in Lincoln Park,Bucktown or the Gold Coast. Not from the most diverse neighborhood in the city.
Sad to see it go, but to be true, that property is zoned for Highrise, in less then 5 years there are going to be condo's right there. That, is a fact.
Yeah, and these same fucking people want us to DRIVE instead of take the El, patronize the big box stores instead of our mom and pops, work at the big stores (for less than a living wage)instead of own the little ones and then if we aren't willing to do that, we have to walk around sober while they destroy the last holdouts of humanity around us. We're the Ewoks and the Hobbits, prepare for the stormtroopers and orcs, my friends...
Kyle sounds like a worthless Loyola student who doesn't but temporarily live in our ward- no less give a damn about what things go on, 5, 10, years from now.
Go to a CAPS meeting asshole.
Get educated! Both these liquor stores knew EXACTLY what they were doing. They let $$ take importance over them being good community partners. Much of this could have been stopped had the stores stopped dealing 40's, blunts, and fortified wine like candy.
This is a lesson to all businesses. If you continue to provide a dis-service to our community- you'll be taken down.
How do you think Bryn Mawr came back from being a ghetto wasteland? Closing liqor stores. Embracing a beautiful historic heritage.
And NO edgewater and rogers park are not crime ridden. You honestly make me ill. Why dont you take a tour of the rest of this city and see just how decent our streets are. With the exception of a few well-known trouble spots (the Morse HOLE for particular, Howard)we enjoy a very high standard of living in a diverse community. Joe Moore is a fool, MAS by comparison looks like a political genius.
Craig- I probably saw you at the closing! Shame I didnt recognize your face or I probably would have shook your hand.
Hey Vanessa, I'm getting tired of your bullshit living wage issue on this blog.
Let me ask you, your a housekeeper. Do you work for a national company or a little mom cleaning a house here or there?
If you work for a Rent-a-Maid company, are they paying you a living wage? Are you getting health insurance? Over-time?
If you work as a one or two person operation, are you paying your fair share of taxes? Most of the housecleaners I know that work solo like that cheat the IRS and steal stuff from clients homes.
Which one are you?
If everybody thimks we have too many liquor stores, maybe we don't need a wine and cheese shop either...oh but that's OK, that's for rich white people, mostly, what'll they do when the winos show up too? They'll be winos hanging around Ha ha ha
Oh Craig, little moms? God I've seen the hell of a family headed by a guy like you...
Nope not a rent a maid or a two person operation and yes i have health insurance and a living wage, and incidentally housekeepers are quite famous for being some of the most honest people on the planet. My heart swells every time a housekeeper turns in valuables people have lost, sicko, we're honest hard working people AND moms.
Vanessa said....> "incidentally housekeepers are quite famous for being some of the most honest people on the planet."
And what planet would that be Vansessa? I'm looking for a honest housekeeper, got any references?
What's with the name calling,Chris? Relax,ok?
I've been in Edgewater for close to 6 years,so I've seen it(Granville/Winthrop) ebb and flow in the way of relative progress.Possibly not as long as some of the folks here on the blog but long enough. I think I've earned the right to chime in an opinion. And,for the record,I'm not a Loyola student but,in fact, a 30something working professional.
I AM concerned about the way these neighborhoods are changing. Primarily because I don't want,within the next 10 years, either Edgewater or Rogers Park to become another Wicker Park or Bucktown. Does ANY of us want this? That's why I moved out of that area because of the gentrification that overtook Damen Ave. What makes Edgewater and Rogers Park unique is the fact that it's not trendy and is incredibly diverse culturally. that was the number one reason for my moving here.
The fact of the matter is,I knew the owners of both stores and,from what they told me,they weren't getting a fair shake from the neighborhood or the ECOC. Should I have gone,done my homework and checked to see what police reports the stores had garnered through the years? Probably. Do I still think what happened to them was a bit unfair? Yeah, a little. Only because,without the liquor license,both stores probably won't survive as a business,period,and it's just a slow death. A bit cruel,wouldn't you say?
And I said that Edgewater and Rogers Park HAS a REPUTATION of being a rough area. I never said it was actually true. I frequent the restaurants and businesses in both neighborhoods often enough to agree with you that it's not as crime-ridden as most folks south of Irving Park Rd believe.
And Chris, if you can resist the urge to call me a stupid asshole again or any other name,let me ask you this: what makes you think that the drunks and panhandlers won't just simply relocate? While Dominick's probably won't have to worry about it(security right outside the front doors)what about them hanging out in front of Bruno's or the Oasis over on Sheridan and Pratt?(Which they already do anyway) They're going to hang close to where the obtainable booze is. Those two are the closest options for them right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Morse starts getting the Granville run-off,quick and in a hurry.
In other words, have we really fixed the issue or just made it worse?
My wife and I have lived a block from the afiorementioned stores for seven years. I don't see the point in targeting those two stores. You've done Dominick's and CVS' jobs for them; you've basically closed independently owned stores and run off their customers to chain stores. Some of those customers ARE law-abiding, tax-paying people.
Is this a "our neighborhood will be safe now that these liquor stores will close!"? Because that certainly won't be the case. Loyola police and CPD have done a great job of patrolling the area; hell, we felt safe over here even before LPD moved in next to the el station.
Wow, this gentrification wish that some people seem to have is going to produce another Wicker Park. But we al know less liquor stores is the way to get to that utpoia.
My guess is that the panhandlers will simply move to the liquor store on Thorndale. They'll become alderman Smith's problem or whoever the hell is in charge of the 48th these days.
I'd be pissed off if I still lived on Kenmore/Thorndale.
Wow... given the uncivil nature of some of the comments, I think I'm going to keep my big mouth mostly shut. This is why my main blog on Yahoo is a "speak easy."
Dudes seriously!
I wish many of the west side neighborhoods I grew up in would have adopted going dry laws. When a neighborhood is loaded down with taverns and liquor stores, all kinds of problems exist. Public drinking and drunkeness, people hanging out all times of day in front of those joints, kids trying to convince adults to go in and buy liquor, crimes in and around those places, etc.
Another good option to going dry is to limit the amount of liquor licenses that can be issued in any area. Have a number of those types of businesses that can be allowed, and when it reaches the limit, that's it.
will morse be the new granville?
No, apparently Thorndale will be the new Granville. I was wondering why I'd seen a sharp increase in pan-handlers near the Thorndale el station over the last month...now I know.
I recently moved to Roger's Park with my husband, and I have been happy to find out that changes are being made to make this area safer and more family-friendly. There is absolutely nothing that says that just because this is a big city, that it has to be dirty, crime- and gang-ridden, and generally miserable. I grew up on the northwest side of Chicago, until eight grade, when I moved to the suburbs with my parents. But now I'm back, and for the longest time I didn't think that I would be able to stand it here in Chicago again. But now that things are quite quickly becoming better, it is starting to feel more like home.
As to those people who believe that removing liquor licenses from stores won't solve the problem, well, to me, it seems like removing the easily accessible source of the problem will alleviate at least some of the detritus that spawns from being able to buy cheap booze.
And frankly, if someone needs to buy alcohol that badly, there are plenty of other locations to buy it. Otherwise, they'll probably live if they have to stay sober. There is no reason to promote public drunkenness, and the other filth that excessive drinking brings with it.
As to Morse becoming the next Granville, I sure as heck hope it doesn't. I know that I will be voting Morse dry, because to me, dirty scary liquor stores and seedy dark bars do not contribute anything positive to a neighborhood.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with there being a community effort to make a neighborhood a cleaner, safer, gang and drug free neighborhood. I can totally see Morse, and even Sheridan, becoming pleasant tree-lined streets filled with people walking by with strollers, window-shopping. But for that to happen, responsible and clean store owners need to move in, and the ones who promote crime and filth, need to move out. It would be nice to be greeted with a more pleasant smell on the west side of the Morse EL stop, instead of stale booze and human waste.
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