Vendors forced out of Little Village Discount Mall will get to move to new home in Gage Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Dozens of vendors who were kicked out of the Discount Mall building in Little Village will officially have a new home.
The news comes amid an ongoing battle over leases at the Discount Mall, a place some of these vendors have been running their businesses for decades.
Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th) and some of those vendors said they're feeling positive about the move, which will take them to a now vacant Kmart on 51st Street and Kedzie Avenue in the Gage Park neighborhood.
The vacant Kmart may not look like much – but its new use is a welcome development for both the vendors and neighbors.
"This is so empty! It's a big, big spot that's been abandoned for years," said Diana Bueno, "and I think it's time."
Bueno has lived across the street from the vacant K-Mart for 10 years. She says it is time for new energy to move into her Gage Park neighborhood.
All that is there now are tire marks from car sideshows that happen late at night in the parking lot.
But now, more than 40 vendors will be moving into the 120,000 square-foot space – after being kicked out of the Little Village Discount Mall.
The owner of the Discount Mall, Novak Development, announced last month that it had reached a deal to extend the lease with one side of the mall. But that meant the other side would be forced out.
"We just wanted to keep working, you know?" said Juan Zarate. "That's all we wanted."
About 40 vendors were supposed to be kicked out of the Discount Mall in Little Village at the end of March, after their lease expired, and a judge refused an emergency move to prevent them from being locked out. City officials were able to negotiate a six-week reprieve for those vendors, and now they've found their new permanent home in Gage Park.
Several vendors already moved out on their own.
City officials were hoping to negotiate another six-week extension with Novak, but that got denied.
Now the city will pay for what the Sigcho Lopez calls "damages" to these vendors for the time and money they lost during these negotiations. That's a bill with a $500,000 price tag. That means each of those 40 vendors will get about $12,500 to help them with rent payments.
"We hope, of course, to learn from these experiences so that the predatory practices they were subject to are no longer in play," Sigcho Lopez said.
The alderman hopes the new location will be a fresh start for these families.
"This is at least a meaningful investment in vendors that have been here for decades and deserve this and more," he said.
Vendors also say they are sick of empty promises.
"We're asking for help so nobody can take advantage of us," Kaddoura said. "We are power. work hard, we pay taxes, and we help the community where we are at. What happened to us was unfair."
The former Kmart building where they will move in is owned by a private company. Sigcho Lopez said they have promised to fix up the building on their own dime to make room for these businesses. Vendors hope to move in within the next six weeks.
The goal is to get vendors up and running inside the mall before May 15 – when Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will take office.
The vendors will meet with the city next week to finalize plans.
