What kind of shop might be in vogue where Vogue Fabrics used to be?
Demolition is under way of the former Vogue store, 718 Main Street, to make way for a five-story, 120-unit apartment building, Vogue on Main, with retail space on the ground floor.
And on the fence surrounding the site, there’s a sign saying “What kind of store would you like to open in this building?,” along with a QR code for responding.
The non-binding survey is from the local business marketing group, Main/Dempster Mile.
The organization’s executive director, Katherine Gotsick, tells Evanston Now that MDM’s board has no position on what kind of business should go there. That’s up to the developer, Catapult Real Estate Solutions.
But Gotsick say, “We hope it will be priced so that an independently owned business can afford the rent.”
Having independent businesses of whatever type, Gotsick adds, will “help keep the character of the neighborhood where people can shop small and shop local.”
So far, Gotsick says, about two dozen ideas have been submitted, with no particular pattern. It’s everything, she notes, from “Super Target to Dave and Buster’s to cute stuffed animal store to deli sandwiches.”
The developer hopes to have the building up and open next fall.
Vogue Fabrics, an Evanston fixture since the late 1940s, has moved local sales operations to its warehouse building on Hartrey Avenue.
Gotsick does note that despite the variety of suggestions for retail in the apartment building, there is only one idea with multiple responses so far: an ice cream shop.
That, Gotsick says, “would be awesome.”
Because really, even in a frigid Evanston winter, ice cream is always in vogue.