CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The holiday-themed storefront displays of the Pilsen Christmas Window Walk have become an annual holiday tradition since 2020, when businesses took a creative approach to boosting foot traffic along 18th Street, the neighborhood’s small business district.
The decorated storefront windows, organized by Pilsen-based nonprofit Economic Strategies Development Corporation (ESDC), are now revealed each year on Small Business Saturday, an initiative geared toward getting consumers to buy local as holiday shopping kicks off after Thanksgiving.
Among those who came out to support Pilsen businesses was a young woman named Isabella, who journeyed to Chicago from Green Bay, Wis., in search of a prom dress. Instead of going downtown to, say, Zara, Isabella — who was born in Guatemala — and her family visited Zarai Imports on 18th Street.
“I really wanted an authentic one that represents my whole culture, and you really don’t have anything like that in Green Bay,” she said.
Store owner, operator and namesake Zarai Reyes was standing by to ring her up, and Reyes told WBBM that the clothing she sells is handmade in several Latin American countries, including Mexico and Guatemala. The money spent at her shop feeds her family, as well as the families that hand-craft the clothing, Reyes said.
Although the Small Business Saturday initiative is a positive one for local shop owners, elsewhere on 18th Street inside Pinwheel Records, co-owner Scott Schaff made sure to note that “every day is Small Business Saturday” — and he emphasized the importance of buying local whenever possible.
Much of the time, Schaff said, the money spent at small businesses goes directly back into the local economy to pay employees, taxes, owners and other bills.
“We do our grocery shopping here in the neighborhood,” he said. “We try to get all of the important supplies that we need here in the neighborhood.
The other half of the Pinwheel Records business partnership, Kim Foreit, said beside the benefit to the surrounding economy, local business owners are still at a point of make it or break it this holiday season, after years of financial struggles brought on by the pandemic.
“This year feels particularly important because it’s not a year where we’ve received government support when it comes to small businesses,” Foreit said. “Really, any money that a person spends with us this year is what carries us through January, February — those slow months where we need to pay our bills.”
Those challenges are very much what the EDSC said it hopes to help businesses overcome with its Pilsen Christmas Window Walk. Not only will the hand-crafted, festive creations — created by a dozen local artists paired up with business owners — help to inspire some holiday shopping, but the nonprofit also turns the window walk into a contest with cash prizes.
Anyone can vote for their favorite window through Dec. 21. The first-place winning business and artist will each receive $1,000; second-place winners will receive $500 each; and third-place winners will receive $250 each.
The Pilsen Christmas Window Walk will run through Jan. 7, 2024. More information on the window walk can be found here.
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