A year ago, the six-corner intersection at North, Damen and Milwaukee had a Starbucks Reserve looking over the crossing, Urbanbelly in the corner space on Damen, and Burton selling snowboards on Milwaukee. Today a Nashville hot chicken chain has the Damen corner, a Brooklyn coffee company is preparing the old Starbucks, and an Australian boot brand has claimed the Burton storefront. The pattern across this year's turnover is clear. Wicker Park is still the place out-of-town brands choose for an early Chicago store. The neighborhood's own operators are still here too, but their moves show up on the side streets, in converted dining rooms and in joint menus.
Three Familiar Storefronts, Three New Names
The quickest way to see the change is address by address. Here's where things stand as of this week:
Address | What was there | What's there now or coming | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
1542 N. Damen Ave. | Urbanbelly | Hattie B's Hot Chicken | Scheduled to open Oct. 28 |
1588 N. Milwaukee Ave. | Starbucks Reserve | Blank Street Coffee | Preparing to open; no date announced |
1563 N. Milwaukee Ave. | Burton; before that, American Apparel | Blundstone | Announced for "this fall"; no date announced |
Hattie B's was scheduled to open Oct. 28 in the corner space near the Damen Blue Line station, according to Block Club Chicago. The restaurant was planned with indoor and patio seating. The menu runs from jumbo tenders and half-bird platters to pimento mac and cheese, bacon-cheddar grits, banana pudding and peach cobbler, and heat levels go from no spice to Nashville hot. Urbanbelly, which had been in that space since 2016, moved to Fulton Market earlier this year.
Blank Street Coffee is taking over what Block Club called one of the more prominent storefronts in Wicker Park. The space overlooks the intersection and has been empty for about a year. Starbucks turned that store into a Reserve location in 2017. Starbucks named it in September 2025 as one of about 20 Chicago stores it would close. Blank Street was founded in Brooklyn in 2020 and is known for its matcha and latte drinks. When Block Club asked about an opening timeline, the company did not respond.
Blundstone, the Tasmanian boot maker best known for its Chelsea boot, plans to open a shop at 1563 N. Milwaukee this fall. No specific date has been announced. It joins a block that Block Club noted already has a wide range of boot and footwear retailers.
Why the Newcomers Keep Choosing This Intersection
Look at where these brands come from, and at what number Chicago store each one is, and the turnover starts to look less random.
Hattie B's went to Wicker Park before it went anywhere else in Chicago. Its first appearance in the city was a 2019 pop-up at Dove's Luncheonette, and the company's executive chef pointed to that history in the opening announcement. In the same announcement he said, "Wicker Park is a special spot for us." Block Club Chicago reported the quote. The Damen Avenue restaurant is the brand's second permanent Chicago location. The first opened in Wrigleyville in February, and a River North location is planned for next year.
A few blocks away, Call Your Mother opened at 1615 N. Damen on May 19, 2026, Block Club Chicago reported. It was the Washington, D.C.-based deli's first Chicago shop. North on Damen, Bandit Running opened its first Chicago store at 1708 N. Damen in January, with a cafe from Soloway Coffee inside. Block Club Chicago placed that stretch in neighboring Bucktown. Blundstone opened its first standalone U.S. store in Los Angeles in 2025 and has been expanding since. Its Chicago store will be on Milwaukee Avenue.
That makes four brands from four different home cities, each choosing this one stretch for an early Chicago storefront. The draw has a long history. Block Club Chicago noted that Blank Street is "the latest in a long line of chains" to open in Wicker Park. In the same story, the outlet said Call Your Mother's arrival had reignited "an age-old debate over the neighborhood's character." That debate gets a fresh round every time a corner storefront changes hands.
Where the Neighborhood's Own Operators Are Showing Up
Corner leases make headlines. A good share of this year's homegrown activity happened in quieter spots, and some of it was linked directly to the new arrivals.
A newcomer working with a neighbor. To mark its opening, Hattie B's teamed up with Paulie Gee's Wicker Park, the pizzeria just north near Milwaukee Avenue, on a limited-run pie. It's topped with hot chicken tender bites, Hattie B's barbecue sauce, bacon, and a succotash of greens, corn and black-eyed peas. It costs $37 for a whole pizza or $5 a slice, it's available through Oct. 31, and part of the proceeds goes to No Kid Hungry. If you're reading this on Thursday, the pizza has three days left.
A chef rebuilding his own room. On the same stretch of Milwaukee as the future Blundstone, chef Rodolfo Cuadros closed Bloom Plant Based Kitchen at 1559 N. Milwaukee last winter and turned the space into Port Union. He also runs Amaru in the neighborhood. Block Club Chicago described Port Union as a "modern American" restaurant with meat-forward dishes alongside vegetarian and plant-based options, set to open April 17.
A walk-up window on Division. Buona's Beef Stand opened Sept. 2 at 1750 W. Division St., next to Original Rainbow Cone. Eater Chicago described it as an Italian beef walk-up window.
A long run that ended. Saint Alfred, the streetwear and sneaker shop on Milwaukee Avenue, closed at the end of April after nearly 22 years. In its farewell, quoted by Block Club Chicago, the shop said, "Thank you for it all Chicago." It did not give a reason for closing.
Put together, the year looks like this: national names took the storefronts with the most foot traffic, and local operators reworked, collaborated and held their ground around them.
Dates Worth Saving Through December
The Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce has a full late-fall calendar. Several of these events are an easy way to visit the new storefronts and the established ones in a single walk.
- WPB Trick-or-Treat, Saturday, Oct. 31, 3 to 6 p.m. Families trick-or-treat along the business corridors of Wicker Park and Bucktown using a digital map of participating shops. Businesses can still register to be listed, so the map may grow before Saturday. Saturday is also the last day for the Hattie B's and Paulie Gee's pizza.
- WPB First Fridays, Friday, Nov. 6, 6 to 8 p.m. A free, self-guided walk through galleries and artist pop-ups across both neighborhoods.
- WPB Winter Wonderland & Tree Lighting, Saturday, Dec. 5, noon to 6 p.m. Activities include Metzger Court at 1260 N. Milwaukee Ave., and the tree lighting takes place in Wicker Park itself, the park at 1425 N. Damen Ave.
Neither Blank Street nor Blundstone had announced an opening date at last report. Either one could open before the tree lighting or after it. When they do, the old Starbucks Reserve and the old Burton storefront will both be in use again, and the intersection will have a new set of names.
For more on the streets around the intersection, see our Wicker Park neighborhood page.
Storefront turnover is one of the clearest signals of how a block is changing, and if you live near the six corners, you see it before almost anyone else does. If you're curious what the new arrivals around North, Damen and Milwaukee might mean for your own home, or you just want to compare notes on what's opening next, The Kardosh Collection is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
