To the acquisitive, the passing of a treasured retail establishment is a momentous occasion. When certain shops close their doors, faithful patrons may find themselves feeling lost and bereft, as if they had been abandoned by an old friend. Many local acquisitors experienced just this sensation when Goodies abruptly went out of business last year after almost a decade on North Halsted.
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Goodies occupied a distinctive place in the pantheon of Chicago retailing. No other emporium offered so splendid an array of what a friend of mine calls “nerdabilia.” At Goodies, such staples as Groucho glasses, Snap-E-Gum, plastic dog turds, rubber vomit, itching powder, whoopee cushions, TV Magic cards, joy buzzers, eye-blackening kaleidoscopes, and invisible ink were perennially available and affordable. Cheesy toys and games dominated the merchandising mix, which also featured jewelry, hair and body adornments, gift items, disguises, and a lot of things best described as trinkets–not unlike those you’d find in a Cracker Jack box. When the store expanded in 1987 to its larger location in the former Flatiron Laundry building, it added a photo booth, vintage apparel, and a soda fountain that was a great place for a birthday party.
Frankel assures us he didn’t close Goodies of his own volition. Goodies had become a family business, but not, ultimately, a terribly convivial one. As he explains it, after he brought in his sisters as partners and expanded, they fired him, then dissolved the business against his will. He is still embroiled in litigation with certain members of his family and estranged from just about all of them, but he doesn’t want to dwell on it. “There’s a point where you have to say ‘forget it’ and start over,” he says.
Whether or not these things are “junk” depends on your point of view, but whatever you decide, they are certainly fun–like just about everything at Uncle Fun. The opening party is this Sunday, November 11, at 1338 W. Belmont, from noon to five. The store will be open regularly noon to seven Wednesday through Saturday, noon to six Sunday. Call 477-8223.
