Cake Bros. Bakery

[The Jackal]

The North Riverside Mall, not Cermak Road, killed Uptown. Ask pkd.

[berwynguy]

The North Riverside Mall, not Cermak Road, killed Uptown. Ask pkd.

I never said that Cermak Rd. killed Uptown.  I said that the area's obsolete location and layout killed it. 

Uptown was developed in 1890 when Berwyn was a small subdivision on the wild prairie.  Does it get any older and more outdated then that??

[The Jackal]

The ONLY that changed and brought about Uptown's demise was North Riverside Mall, not its location. The location had been the same for decades. Up to the mid 70's, Uptown was thriving. By the late 70's (after North Riverside Mall was built), it was DONE...FINISHED! Ask people who lived in the area at the time, they will tell you.

[berwynguy]

The ONLY that changed and brought about Uptown's demise was North Riverside Mall, not its location. The location had been the same for decades. Up to the mid 70's, Uptown was thriving. By the late 70's (after North Riverside Mall was built), it was DONE...FINISHED! Ask people who lived in the area at the time, they will tell you.

I am sorry, but I don't agree with you.  We will just have to agree to disagree. 

By the way, the North Riverside mall opened in 1975.  My mother was one of the very first people to be hired there when Carson Pirie Scott opened. 

[The Jackal]

Well you can disagree if you like but the facts don't support your claims. Uptown was ALWAYS in the same out-of-the-way location, yet flourished till the mid 70's. What changed? The ONLY thing that changed in the mid 70's was North Riverside Mall, not Uptown's physical location. If you don't believe me, ask pkd. She lived a stone's throw from Uptown. Ask Patsy, she lived IN Uptown. Ask ANYONE who actually lived in the area at the time. In any event, I would suggest not drawing conclusions and making factual assertions about events that occured before you were born and of which you have no first hand knowledge. Just a suggestion, do what you want with it.

[The Jackal]

The ONLY that changed and brought about Uptown's demise was North Riverside Mall, not its location. The location had been the same for decades. Up to the mid 70's, Uptown was thriving. By the late 70's (after North Riverside Mall was built), it was DONE...FINISHED! Ask people who lived in the area at the time, they will tell you.

I am sorry, but I don't agree with you.  We will just have to agree to disagree. 

By the way, the North Riverside mall opened in 1975.  My mother was one of the very first people to be hired there when Carson Pirie Scott opened.

I know when NRM opened. I was nine years old (almost ten) at the time. My mom used to take us to the Airplane Restaurant for lunch and to Madigan's to shop. By the time I was 12 I was taking two buses to NRM to eat pizza slices at the Orange Bowl and mindlessly browse through Spencer's. By the age of 14 ('79) I was salivating at the hot to trot salesgirls at Merry-Go-Round, like virtually every other neighborhood kid/boy my age. I knew that mall like the back of my hand. My mom worked at The Mister Shop for over two decades. I'm too tired to do the math now, but were you even born in '79?

[berwynguy]

Yeah I was alive in 1979 but that's got nothing to do with it.  You're trying to play the age card with someone that's more in tune with this city's history then most 80 year olds that were born and raised here.  Nice try, but no cigar. 

It's all about common sense.  I will do something that you refuse to do and agree with you on at least one aspect.  The opening of NRPM helped kill "Uptown."  The mall opened and the people had a better shopping alternative to an antiquated railroad stop along the old CB&Q.  The bottom line is that "Uptown" was in the middle of nowhere.  Once those Uptown shoppers found the NRPM, there was no one that took their place as shoppers because Uptown might have been in the middle of Yellowstone Park.  No one knew where the eff it was.  Like I said on many occasions, having been born and raised on 13th & Kenilworth if someone would have mentioned "Uptown" to me I would have thought they were referring to a Billy Joel song.  If people in the city that the place existed didn't even know where it was, then how the frig would people in Chicago, Cicero, Oak Park, Riverside, etc. even known about it. 

Uptown was destined to fail because of its shitty antiquated location, plain and simple. 

Now back to the chicks at Merry-Go-Round.........

(As a side note, my older sister worked there for a few years and it was like a badge of honor for me as her younger brother.  I got to say that my sister was a Merry-Go-Round girl! )

[The Jackal]

Well, lets do this slowly.

If you're going to make an argument based on SECOND hand knowledge, then you may first want to defer to people with FIRST hand knowledge.

Uptown catered almost exclusively to locals. Its location was irrelevant, simply because most of its patrons were within walking distance. That same shitty location allowed that area to thrive for decades. So much so that it even had a movie theatre at one time. The ONLY thing that changed was NRM. THAT'S IT! Once the mall opened in '75, the locals who kept Uptown afloat abandoned ship and shopped at NRM. Not because the Uptown location was any better or worse...it wasn't, for God's sake the location was the same....but because there were so many more, and better, stores in NR and the small mom and pop joints in Uptown simply couldn't compete. And it was only a few minutes away by car.....appx. two miles. 

I just can't understand how you can comment on an area that had all but vanished by the time you were born. Very puzzling.

[The Jackal]

Yeah I was alive in 1979 but that's got nothing to do with it.  You're trying to play the age card with someone that's more in tune with this city's history then most 80 year olds that were born and raised here.  Nice try, but no cigar. 

Well you might have one up on some 80 year olds, but you can't possibly know more about Uptown than I do. For God's sake, I was 10 when its decline started and you weren't even born yet. I bought model airplanes at Raikes, ate at Blue Fountain, rode the mechanical ponies at the dept store on the Oak Park Windsor corner, boght my bike at the Raleigh cycle shop on Grove., bought rubber baseballs at the Clinton grocery, got my film developed at Colonial, and even bought my only Farrah Fawcett t-shirt at the shop which was located appx. where Skincare Salon is now.

[berwynguy]

Well, lets do this slowly.

If you're going to make an argument based on SECOND hand knowledge, then you may first want to defer to people with FIRST hand knowledge.

Uptown catered almost exclusively to locals. Its location was irrelevant, simply because most of its patrons were within walking distance. That same shitty location allowed that area to thrive for decades. So much so that it even had a movie theatre at one time. The ONLY thing that changed was NRM. THAT'S IT! Once the mall opened in '75, the locals who kept Uptown afloat abandoned ship and shopped at NRM. Not because the Uptown location was any better or worse...it wasn't, for God's sake the location was the same....but because there were so many more, and better, stores in NR and the small mom and pop joints in Uptown simply couldn't compete. And it was only a few minutes away by car.....appx. two miles. 

I just can't understand how you can comment on an area that had all but vanished by the time you were born. Very puzzling.

Yeah, I know, I live in a box.  That's cool, what do I know.  The YEARS that I have spent researching Berwyn's history don't mean anything.  You win. 

[The Jackal]

I didn't say you lived in a box. Kudos to you for spending all those years researching Berwyn, and as I've told you before, your book was VERY well written. That being said, I would imagine that some of your "research" was based on talking to people, like myself, who actually lived in certain areas in certain eras. Just a hunch.

You have AT LEAST three people on this forum who lived in the area in and around Uptown in the early and mid 70's. Ask them.

[berwynguy]

It's not that, it's just that your Berwyn experience seems to be more relevant then anyone elses.  For instance, if I had ran down a list of everything I first did in north Berwyn like you just did about Uptown (I got my first candy there, kissed my first girlfriend there, had my first crack rock there, had my first prostitute at that gin mill over there), YOU would have swooped in and said that you took a helicopter over to my end of Berwyn (which you would have had to have done since you lived NO WHERE around there) and did it FIRST and BETTER.  That's just the way you are and that's cool.  Believe it or not I still love you anyway!

Ta ta until tomorrow......

[The Jackal]

The Pontiac dealer location on Grove Avenue was only parts and service for many years.  The new car showroom was on Ogden Avenue.  At one time sales was also at the Grove location but I don't know when they moved sales to Ogden.  I know they did not sell cars at that location at least since 1978.

The old Indian head ended up in the upstairs office in storage.  Only the vertical Pontiac sign remained. 

The dealer was sold from George Beranek to Stan Balzekas III and then to Don Bovino who lost the the Pontiac franchise sometime in the 90's.  Both the Saab and Pontiac franchises were bought by West Suburban VW, Alfa Romeo in Maywood, and the the Berwyn location was closed.  West Suburban had the Pontiac franchised pulled by GM for writing fraudulent warranty claims.

When Bovino owned the dealer in Berwyn, he hired an outside company to do a parts inventory.  The old upstairs offices were full of new old stock Pontiac parts going back to cars from the 50's and 60"s.  The guy that owned the inventory company made Bovino an offer and bought all the parts...and the old indian head sign.

I do have pictures of the sign on and off the building.  I will post them if I can find them.

I remembered Balzekas, Beranek AND Bovino. I believe the Grove location was there only under the Balzekas tenure, but I might be mistaken...it could have survived to the Beranek era. I'm certain though that the Grove location was gone by the time Bovino came around.

[berwynguy]

The Pontiac dealer location on Grove Avenue was only parts and service for many years.  The new car showroom was on Ogden Avenue.  At one time sales was also at the Grove location but I don't know when they moved sales to Ogden.  I know they did not sell cars at that location at least since 1978.

The old Indian head ended up in the upstairs office in storage.  Only the vertical Pontiac sign remained. 

The dealer was sold from George Beranek to Stan Balzekas III and then to Don Bovino who lost the the Pontiac franchise sometime in the 90's.  Both the Saab and Pontiac franchises were bought by West Suburban VW, Alfa Romeo in Maywood, and the the Berwyn location was closed.  West Suburban had the Pontiac franchised pulled by GM for writing fraudulent warranty claims.

When Bovino owned the dealer in Berwyn, he hired an outside company to do a parts inventory.  The old upstairs offices were full of new old stock Pontiac parts going back to cars from the 50's and 60"s.  The guy that owned the inventory company made Bovino an offer and bought all the parts...and the old indian head sign.

I do have pictures of the sign on and off the building.  I will post them if I can find them.

I remembered Balzekas, Beranek AND Bovino. I believe the Grove location was there only under the Balzekas tenure, but I might be mistaken...it could have survived to the Beranek era. I'm certain though that the Grove location was gone by the time Bovino came around.

Beranek was there FIRST.  Then Balzekas, THEN Bovino.  Ed Karasek of park district fame was the general manager of Beranek for many years. 

Beranek was there starting in the 1930s-40s I believe.  I will check tomorrow. 

[The Jackal]

Yeah, you're right upon reflection. I mixed up the B's. I remeber Balzekas very well, at least the Ogden location. Beranek HAD to have preceeded it.

[Bonster]

Uptown catered almost exclusively to locals. Its location was irrelevant, simply because most of its patrons were within walking distance.

By stating that you lost the argument.  That's what bguy was saying all along.  It was good for locals, but in no way was THE shopping mecca for Berwyn.  When my grandmother from Westchester came to this area to shop, she was going to Cermak Road, later to the Plaza, not to the secluded "uptown."

[Wilson]

The Pontiac dealer location on Grove Avenue was only parts and service for many years.  The new car showroom was on Ogden Avenue.  At one time sales was also at the Grove location but I don't know when they moved sales to Ogden.  I know they did not sell cars at that location at least since 1978.

The old Indian head ended up in the upstairs office in storage.  Only the vertical Pontiac sign remained. 

The dealer was sold from George Beranek to Stan Balzekas III and then to Don Bovino who lost the the Pontiac franchise sometime in the 90's.  Both the Saab and Pontiac franchises were bought by West Suburban VW, Alfa Romeo in Maywood, and the the Berwyn location was closed.  West Suburban had the Pontiac franchised pulled by GM for writing fraudulent warranty claims.

When Bovino owned the dealer in Berwyn, he hired an outside company to do a parts inventory.  The old upstairs offices were full of new old stock Pontiac parts going back to cars from the 50's and 60"s.  The guy that owned the inventory company made Bovino an offer and bought all the parts...and the old indian head sign.

I do have pictures of the sign on and off the building.  I will post them if I can find them.

I remembered Balzekas, Beranek AND Bovino. I believe the Grove location was there only under the Balzekas tenure, but I might be mistaken...it could have survived to the Beranek era. I'm certain though that the Grove location was gone by the time Bovino came around.

Beranek was there FIRST.  Then Balzekas, THEN Bovino.  Ed Karasek of park district fame was the general manager of Beranek for many years. 

Beranek was there starting in the 1930s-40s I believe.  I will check tomorrow.

Correct, Beranek was there first.  I do not know when Beranek started the dealership but I do know the 3249 S. Grove location was not just parts and service but also the sales showroom in the beginning.

The dealer was started by Charles Beranek and later owned by his son George Beranek.  After George sold the dealer to Balzekas, he moved to Arizona and started a real estate company.  They built strip malls all over the country.

I used to hear rumors that originally the building at 3249 S. Grove was a Pierce Arrow dealership.  I have never found any proof.  Pierce Arrow ceased operations in 1938 so that would fit the time line of Beranek opening up 1930s to 1940s.

Ed Karasek was the General Manager for Beranek, Balzekas, and Bovino.  He used to start every day by coming to the 3249 S. Grove building.  We used to say that he was there to count the bricks and make sure none were missing.  Around 11:30 he went to the sales showroom on Ogden.  Ed had some very old and loyal customers who came to see him every time they wanted to buy a car.  I would love to know how many cars he sold in his career.

[Bonster]

YOU would have swooped in and said that you took a helicopter over to my end of Berwyn (which you would have had to have done since you lived NO WHERE around there) and did it FIRST and BETTER. 

I have video proof of Jackal flying his helicopter up to Roosevelt.
See around the 3:50 mark...

http://youtu.be/yDdgMZ_PkCc



(note the Dodge dealer on Roosevelt, Weinkeller)

[The Jackal]

Uptown catered almost exclusively to locals. Its location was irrelevant, simply because most of its patrons were within walking distance.

By stating that you lost the argument.  That's what bguy was saying all along.  It was good for locals, but in no way was THE shopping mecca for Berwyn.  When my grandmother from Westchester came to this area to shop, she was going to Cermak Road, later to the Plaza, not to the secluded "uptown."

I corrected my initial post by stating it was the commercial center of THAT particular area, not Berwyn on the whole. And I don't need second hand stories from grandma or anyone else to tell me what Uptown was or wasn't.

[The Jackal]

Like I said on many occasions, having been born and raised on 13th & Kenilworth if someone would have mentioned "Uptown" to me I would have thought they were referring to a Billy Joel song.

Well there's a pretty good reason for this-by the time you were born...and subsequently raised, Uptown was LONG GONE. It NO LONGER EXISTED!

I'm guessing by your posts that you were born in either '78 or '79. By THAT time Uptown was but a distant memory, so how in God's name could YOU have known where it was....as a toddler?

My younger brother was born in '73 and even HE doesn't know where or what Uptown was....and he was BORN and RAISED a half mile from it.

Notice how I don't comment on things that happened or existed in Berwyn pre-1970? There's a good reason....I don't have first hand knowledge of it. I don't make assumptions or draw conclusions on events, occurences and/or things that pre-date/precede me...nor do I use SECOND HAND accounts to rebut somebody with FIRST HAND knowledge.

Uptown was destined to fail because of its shitty antiquated location, plain and simple. 

WRONG.

That shitty antiquated location allowed the area to THRIVE for what, close to SEVENTY years?

Funny how people from all over Chicagoland knew how to get to Copperfields (smack dab in the heart of Uptown) in the early/mid 80's, but people from 13th and Kenilworth didn't know how to just a few years earlier. LOL.

Seriously, that makes no sense.

I wasn't from 13th and Kenilworth either, but I sure as hell knew how to get to Kings n Queens, or how to get served as a minor at Sportsman's.