Caza Closes in Wicker Park: High Rent, Chains to Blame

After 14 years in the Wicker Park neighborhood, Caza—formerly Lenny and Me—is closing its doors April 30.

The modern and vintage boutique-style department store at 1459 N. Milwaukee Ave. announced its departure from the neighborhood with sale notices on the windows.   

Owner Ana Camino decided to close shop after her lease was up March 31. The building’s landlord said Caza could stay another month, but has to be out of the space by April 30. 

That means sales for merchandise in the store, whose name means “to hunt” in Spanish. Clothing is 75 percent off, while furniture and other items are 50 percent off. 

The owner cites a large rent increase as the main reason for closing. The move comes less than a year after a redesign that changed the store’s name from Lenny and Me to Caza. 

“The area is starting to be more for chains. I think everyone, unless you own your building, is just getting pushed (east on North),” Camino said. "I wish they would have done what they did in Andersonville."

The owner was referring to a 2006 ordinance proposal that would have banned chains from going into certain districts in the neighborhood. The proposal didn't come to fruition, but local organizations found other ways to keep small businesses in the area.

One of the voices behind the draft was the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, who supported the idea to keep small businesses in the area, said Jason Cox, the associate director for the chamber. 

"It had to be an outright ban or nothing and enough people were uncomfortable with the idea of a ban that it didn't go anywhere," he said. 

Instead, the chamber focused on educating residents and consumers of shopping locally.

A 2004 study in Andersonville compared the amount of every dollar that goes back into the economy for both local and chain businesses.

Researchers found $68 out of every $100 spent in a local business went back into the Chicago economy. That’s compared to a chain store, where $43 of every $100 remained in the community.

"A lot of the residents in the area have taken that message and run with it," Cox said. "We took the approach of using honey instead of vinegar."

If that attitude had transferred down to Wicker Park, Camino said her business would have likely stayed open.

“I wish we would have gotten one strip of Wicker Park that was that way, something that was a little protected so that small businesses could thrive,” Camino said. 

But Caza’s closing doesn’t mean the end of eclectic furniture in Wicker Park. Camino and Caza store manager Alison Veit are teaming up to develop their own line of furniture.  

A clean and modern look with classic lines will be the inspiration of the line, called AVAC Design. Veit also said the furniture could have Danish and Mexican influences.

“It’ll be sort of the same aesthetic we’ve been collecting here,” she said.

Until that gets off the ground, Camino said the two can be seen at antique shows and markets like the Randolph Street Market.