The storefront at 1563 N. Milwaukee Ave. has had three lives in under a decade. American Apparel was there for years. Burton moved in and sold snowboard gear. Now the Australian boot maker Blundstone has put its name on the glass, next door to Dr. Martens, on a block that already has John Fluevog and Thursday Boot Company nearby, Block Club Chicago reported in September.
Fall 2026 around the North/Damen/Milwaukee intersection keeps following that pattern. The new arrivals are almost all moving into well-known spaces with a well-known past. What sets this season apart is how openly the newcomers are borrowing from the businesses that stayed.
Three Storefronts, Each on Its Next Tenant
Each of this fall's changes near the Damen Blue Line comes with a history attached:
- 1542 N. Damen Ave. Urbanbelly, the Asian street food restaurant, opened in this corner space in 2016 and moved to Fulton Market earlier this year. Hattie B's Hot Chicken, the Nashville chain, was scheduled to open here on Oct. 28 as its second Chicago location, according to Block Club. The space will have indoor and patio seating.
- 1588 N. Milwaukee Ave. For years this was the Starbucks that looks out over the intersection. Starbucks turned it into a Reserve location in 2017, then put it on a list of about 20 Chicago closures in September 2025. Blank Street Coffee, a Brooklyn-founded chain known for matcha and lattes, is preparing to open there. Crain's Chicago Business first reported the deal, and Time Out Chicago said in early October that no opening date had been announced.
- 1563 N. Milwaukee Ave. The American Apparel space, then Burton, now Blundstone. The brand's Chicago store page lists daily hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Head a little north on Damen and the pattern repeats. Call Your Mother, the bagel shop founded in Washington, D.C., opened May 19 in the former Dimo's Pizza storefront at 1615 N. Damen Ave., Block Club reported.
Each is taking over a storefront that people in the neighborhood already know by the name of whoever was there before.
Why the Same Argument Came Back in June
That bagel shop restarted a familiar debate. In a June story headlined "New Bagel Spot Reignites Wicker Park's Decades-Long Debate: Indie Vs. Corporate," Block Club traced the spark to Call Your Mother's private equity backing. Founders Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira still run the day-to-day operations, but they sold a majority stake to the asset management company Invus last year.
Block Club reported that Bill Jacobs, the longtime owner of Piece Pizzeria and the attached Brobagel around the corner, posted on social media asking neighbors to support locally owned businesses, and the post drew thousands of likes. Ashley Ortiz, a co-owner of Antique Taco, posted her own message and pointed to the corporate taco chains that have arrived in the area in recent years.
Block Club also spoke with longtime owners who see it differently. Amanda Kezios, who has run Mojo Spa on Milwaukee Avenue in its current form since 2003, described the turnover she has watched over the years:
"Corporations or corporate stores, entities, they come and go. They don't have a connection to the neighborhood, whereas the local businesses are what support the neighborhood."
Mindy Segal, who owns Mindy's Bakery at 1623 N. Milwaukee Ave. and sells bagels herself, told the same story's readers something else. In an Instagram video she encouraged people to shop local, then added, "In my opinion, no one should tell you how to spend your money," and pointed out that every business pays employees' salaries and insurance. In an email quoted by Block Club, Dana said the company is "still the same people. Still running the business. Still obsessed with the food."
The article gave no count of how many neighborhood businesses are chains and how many are independent. It was a debate about the character of the neighborhood, carried out mostly by people who have kept businesses on these blocks for years.
The Turnover Record Cuts in Several Directions
The recent record supports Kezios's point about national brands. Block Club noted that Guzman y Gomez, an Australian taco chain, opened on Damen Avenue in mid-December and then closed all of its United States stores in the spring. The Yeti store that replaced the Double Door music venue closed in summer 2025, and that storefront was still empty as of late May. The Starbucks at 1588 N. Milwaukee sat vacant for about a year before Blank Street signed on.
Locally run spots move too. Urbanbelly made room for Hattie B's by relocating within Chicago to Fulton Market, not by closing. And on Division Street, Smoke Daddy served its last meal on Jan. 4, 2026, after 31 years. In its farewell letter, the owners wrote that "the Smoke Daddy legacy will continue in Wrigleyville."
Division has its own new arrival this fall. Buona's Beef Stand, a walk-up window for Italian beef, opened Sept. 2 at 1750 W. Division St., next to Original Rainbow Cone, Eater Chicago reported.
What holds steady through all of this is the storefronts themselves. Prominent corners keep finding new tenants, sometimes right away and sometimes after a long vacancy, as the year between Starbucks and Blank Street at 1588 N. Milwaukee shows.
The Newcomers Are Arriving Through Their Neighbors
This fall's openings stand out for how they introduce themselves, and that is where the June debate becomes something residents can actually see on the street.
Hattie B's opening plans put the neighborhood front and center. The company's executive chef, Brian Morris, said in a press release quoted by Block Club that "Wicker Park is a special spot for us," and recalled that the brand's first Chicago appearance was a 2019 pop-up at Dove's Luncheonette. Ahead of the opening, Hattie B's worked with Paulie Gee's Wicker Park, just north near Milwaukee Avenue, on a limited-run pizza topped with hot chicken tender bites, Hattie B's barbecue sauce, bacon and black-eyed pea succotash. It ran Oct. 16 through 31 at $37 a pie or $5 a slice, with part of the proceeds going to No Kid Hungry.
Blundstone is placing itself among neighbors as well. It is joining a stretch of Milwaukee that already sells boots, sitting beside Dr. Martens with Fluevog and Thursday Boot close by. A shopper looking for Chelsea boots can now compare several brands within a few doors of each other.
Blank Street is taking the most visible window at the intersection, the one Starbucks held for years. Block Club called Blank Street "the latest in a long line of chains to open a location in Wicker Park," pointing to Call Your Mother earlier this year.
Put together, the pattern is consistent. The national brands coming in this season are moving into storefronts with local histories, next to long-running neighbors, and in at least one case teaming up with a neighborhood business to launch. These blocks have kept their identity because the blocks themselves stay put, whoever holds the lease.
Two Dates Before the Holidays
The neighborhood's own calendar runs on the same streets. Two events listed by the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce fall between now and the holidays:
- WPB First Fridays, Friday, Nov. 6, 6 to 8 p.m. A free, self-guided art walk across Wicker Park and Bucktown. The Chamber's listing points attendees to a gallery map in place of a single starting address, so it works well as an evening loop that passes the new storefronts too.
- WPB Winter Wonderland & Tree Lighting, Saturday, Dec. 5, noon to 6 p.m. Free holiday activities around the neighborhood, including free ice skating, with events at Metzger Court, 1260 N. Milwaukee Ave., and the tree lighting at 1425 N. Damen Ave., according to the Chamber's event page. The listing says SSA #33 presents the tree lighting.
The Dec. 5 tree lighting at 1425 N. Damen is a few blocks south of the corner where Hattie B's is opening at 1542 N. Damen.
If you live near these corners and are curious about the other side of a changing storefront, such as what a prominent space is worth to a tenant or how a block's mix of businesses shows up in the homes around it, I'm always glad to talk it through. I'm Survi Kobawala, and I follow how blocks like this change. Let's Connect.
