Little Village Discount Mall to remain open for at least two more weeks, alderperson says

The Little Village Discount Mall will stay open for at least a couple of more weeks, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) announced Tuesday.

It will stay open until at least Feb. 16, when vendors, city officials and the mall’s owner, John Novak, will meet to discuss a plan for the future of the site that includes the nearly 100 vendors who pay rent to sell their merchandise, Sigcho-Lopez said.

The announcement comes a day before the mall was set to shut its doors.

“The Discount Mall is not closed, and it is not going to close. Our intention is to maintain these jobs,” Sigcho-Lopez said at a news conference at La Baguette Bakery and joined by vendors who have been fighting to keep their stalls.

“These jobs represent the economic engine of 26th Street, and before the pandemic represented more than $900 million that we contributed to the city,” Sigcho-Lopez said.

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The meeting will consist of vendors, the alderperson, the Chicago Department of Planning and Development and someone from the mayor’s office, the alderperson said. He added that Novak still hasn’t presented a formal plan for the site to the city.

The alderperson said that if the meeting doesn’t produce a mutually beneficial plan that includes the vendors, he will will look for the city to purchase the property. Sigcho-Lopez said there was precedent for such a move, citing a controversial lot in Pilsen on 18th and Peoria that went through several developers before being bought by the city in 2021.

Sigcho-Lopez also said that two vendors at the mall have already received eviction notices saying that they had until Feb. 6 to leave. The alderperson said those notices were “illegal”and violated the city’s Fair Notice Ordinance.

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Under the ordinance, landlords must provide 60 days’ notice before terminating a lease for renters who have been at a property for less than three years and 120 days for those who have been there longer.

Novak could not be reached for comment.

“We want to assure all the businesses in the area that we know the rights of the workers at the Discount Mall,” Sigcho-Lopez said.

Novak, who is president of Novak Construction and bought the 6-acre property in 2019, has in the past cast doubt on keeping the mall open and said he planned to eventually bring in national retail chains.

Vendors have been pushing for the owner to meet with them and include them in any changes coming since the property was bought.

Veronica Gutierrez, who has worked as a vendor at the mall for several years, said the location has been a major part of her life.

“I got here in ’93 and have lived in Little Village since,” Gutierrez said. “I got the opportunity to work at the mall and have worked there my whole life. The mall has given me a lot, thank God.”

Yvette Castaneda, a doctor who works in the area, said the mall is a safe space for youth in the area and serves as a deterrent to violence.

“There are very few healthy spaces that are free of violence in the community, and the Discount Mall is one of those places,” Castaneda said. “Young people can work there in the summer and find areas where they can develop their talents.”