Our Alice & Friends Chicago location on Broadway Ave has been closed since January. Similar to many old Chicago structures, the building needed maintenance. While discussing repairs with our landlord, we discovered that there was a minor risk for the floor to collapse. To take care of this promptly, our landlord decided to close for what initially was thought to be 12 – 16 weeks.
At the beginning, we were positive that the timing was right.
It was winter and if everything went according to plan, we could use this temporary closure to expand our dining area and replace our floor tile. At the same time, we were getting ready to open our Glenview location and it was going to be helpful to have this time to focus on the opening and getting to know new customers and friends. Additionally, this also meant that our team from Chicago could choose to work at The Glen if they wanted to. This arrangement would work to help us train new staff members and benefit our employees by not having a break on their wages.
It could’ve been the perfect plan.
Alice and Friends Chicago Timeline for Repairs
But because of events out of our control, this plan changed. The timeline has now been extended to several months and we understand that it has been frustrating for many of you that miss our local food. However, during this time, we have also received a handful of disagreeable reviews and comments accusing us of abandoning our Edgewater neighborhood.
“Figure out what you’re doing with this location because we don’t need another vacant store/restaurant front. Either be a part of the neighborhood or focus on your suburban location.” _Google Review
“I’m going to review how abandoned the city for the suburbs after I supported this restaurant for 20 years” _ Facebook Message
This is far from the truth.
We continue to invest time and money to sustain the cost of renovations during this extended delay. At the same time, we lose funds from the closure and have resourced to obtain a loan to support this project.
During this stressful time, these types of comments are not only unfounded and unkind, but they can really harm a small business.
What Has Caused Delays on the Re-opening Date?
Because we rent the locale, this is a shared project with our landlord that comes with limitations.
Our landlord has a specific budget and the contractor hires a limited number of workers to match this budget. This causes the project to move slower than it would be if more workers were present every day.
Additionally, our landlord often travels out of the country for long periods of time making communication extremely difficult. Even when we stay on top of things, the project suffers delays while we wait for responses or important decisions.
Then we had a set of unfortunate events that caused unexpected delays.
The contractor had a death in his family and needed time off to fly to Europe. Family comes first and grieving is a universal process that requires time. We understood. And after a few weeks, we continued the project. Unfortunately, on a separate occasion, the contractor broke his ankle and the project again stalled for several weeks.
It was an incredibly stressful time but again, we understood why the pauses were needed.
When Will Restaurant Renovations be Completed?
Interior renovations are finally completed but the roof decided to surprise us with multiple water leaks. Originally, we thought we could wait to fix it, but it wasn’t worth the risk and decided to find a contractor to fix it as soon as possible.
And this is where we are right now. All repairs are coming together and we’re satisfied with the outcome.
When Will We Have a Reopening Date for our Alice & Friends Chicago location?
As far as we have come, we promise we’ll have good news next week. But before having a reopening date, there’s a final step: we must pass an inspection.
We hope that after investing so much time and energy in this project, we get a final stroke of luck and pass the inspection promptly. But if we have learned something from this experience is that life and projects are not a perfect plan.
We can’t wait to see all of our favorite people from our Chicago location. Our team, a renovated building, and the most delicious fall flavors are about to make a comeback in Edgewater!