RIP, Spin Cycle of Wicker Park
By chicago-pipeline at December 26, 2011 | 12:19 pm | Print
About a week ago, a sign on the window of Spin Cycle Coin Laundry & Dry Cleaning, at 1658 N. Milw, alerted laundry goers like this writer to the fact that the Laundromat would be understandably closed on Christmas Day.
So we decided to do mounds of laundry at our favorite (and just about only) local Laundromat the day after X-mas, like this morning, however we’re glad we checked our email, as late last night we received an email from a Pipeline reader, K., with the following report, “It [Spin cycle] instantly shut down on the 23rd. …. scrappers were hauling the washers away.”
K’s email saved us the two block walk with mounds of laundry in our cart but it has left us feeling sad, thinking about all the laundry we’ve done at Spin Cycle over the years. Spin Cycle opened in July of 2004 and evolved with the times, offering free wi-fi as well as a complimentary computer, a nice love seat for reading, and photos of customers plastered all over the change machine. Back in fall of 2009, we profiled Spin Cycle’s owner, Grace, for our Thanksgiving issue, pictured, shortly after Spin Cycle added a dry cleaning business to augment its Laundromat sales. She said she was most thankful for her customers.
According to Yelper, Victoria M. on this page,”I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I was literally walking down to this place to run the first of many blanket loads when I ran into someone else in my building walking back. He told me that Spin Cycle is closing as I type this, and either going out of business, or management hopes, to convince the building owner to divide the space smaller. Total bummer. RIP, Spin Cycle.”
We agree, Victoria.
Tonight (12/27) we followed up with Grace’s husband and Spin Cycle co-owner, Ed, who was in the midst of assisting customers with picking up their dry cleaning when we popped by around 7:30PM. Ed said that he “failed to negotiate a new lease” after rent was increased by 15%, and while he’d hoped that he’d be able to divide the space, the construction costs associated with making his space smaller, to allow for another tenant to share the space, were just too high.
Per Ed, while the Laundromat was spacious- a fact customers liked- it was not dense enough to achieve greater profitability. Indeed, most Laundromats do have narrow aisles and not much sitting room, whereas at Spin Cycle there were plentiful chairs and even a few tables.
As for Grace, Ed described his wife as “heartbroken” when we inquired. He also says that they have no plans to open another Laundromat.
Next up for that space, or at least about half of it? 7-11 is coming soon, according to a source who wished to remain anonymous.
As for the other half, we’re keeping our fingers crossed someone will want to open a Laundromat…?
Until then, the nearest options for those who need to visit the ‘Mat include Bucktown Bubbles, which recently went under new management at 1801 W. North Avenue, Sudz at 1246 N. Ashland (about 6 long blocks from Spin Cycle), a West Bucktown Laundromat one block west of Western, just before you get to Walgreen’s and which we can’t find any links for online, but where we interviewed this Pulaski student, with her mother’s permission, for our back to school newsletter, and Bubbleland at 2249 N. Milwaukee, next to the 24-hour Dunkin Donuts in Logan Square.
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