Johnny Sprockets moving from Bryn Mawr to Andersonville

I will finally have a good shop in walking distance...

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140218/andersonville/johnny-sprock...

ANDERSONVILLE — Johnny Sprockets is ditching Edgewater for Andersonville.

The critically acclaimed full-service bike shop at 1052 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. is closing down on Feb. 23 and moving to 5434 N. Clark St. The plan is to open in Andersonville by mid-March, according to the business' owner Manuel Tenorio.

Johnny Sprockets, which also has a Lakeview location, has occupied its Edgewater location for about 13 years, and was able to build a strong and loyal customer base, said Tenorio, a Lincoln Square resident.

"But over the years some of our customers mentioned how it was difficult getting to that location," Tenorio said. "The biggest problem we had was that it was too far northeast for a lot of our customers to get to, so we're trying to get a little closer to our customer base."

The new shop comes with a lot more street parking than what's available on Bryn Mawr, and is more accessible by bike given its location on Clark, which is "basically a big bike route," Tenorio said.

"Another thing: The foot traffic that we were getting there was not as good as, for example, the foot traffic we were getting at our Lakeview store," Tenorio added.

Tenorio said he has a particular fondness for Andersonville.

"It's a neighborhood I spent a lot of time in as a kid and as a teenager, so it's exciting to be in a neighborhood where I have a ton of memories," Tenorio said.

Johnny Sprockets employee Phil Szyjka, 32, said after working in Edgewater for six years it was "exciting" to be moving to Andersonville.

Szyjka said he and other employees have spent a lot of time recently packing away the store in preparation.

There hasn’t been much of a reaction from customers regarding the move, he said, but “hopefully they’ll follow us."

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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on February 18, 2014 at 6:33am

Crap, that was the only store in walking distance to my place and next to a train station.  Plus it helped tone up Bryn Mawr a bit.  It's a shame traffic along the lake front wasn't enough to keep them there.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 18, 2014 at 8:56am

I suspect that lots of folks will be happy about that change.

Permalink Reply by daWillinChi on February 18, 2014 at 9:56am

About .2 mile extra of walking, but still walkable. I need the exercise anyway

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on February 19, 2014 at 3:03pm

Nice. I live a block and a half away, so it will be super easy to get there. I agree with what Manuel was saying; while their Bryn Mawr location was nice, it was super hard to find parking (should you have needed it) and wasn't nearly as accessible as it will be in the new space. It'll be nice to have them and Turin so close to me; plus, as far as shops go, they are diverse and complimentary to each other. 

Also, this is a big win for the neighborhood; the space they are moving in to has been languishing for what seems to be years. 

Permalink Reply by yaj 7.4 on February 20, 2014 at 12:27am

That address is the brand new building that just went up on Clark and it is super close to my place.  Excellent!  I'm looking forward to visiting my new neighbors.

Permalink Reply by Sol on February 20, 2014 at 4:34pm

Whoever wrote the article doesn't know the area....Andersonville, not counting the part south of Foster which was not until recently considered to be a part of Andersonville proper and is technically a part of Uptown, is one neighborhood among many that are within the Edgewater Community Area....they are not two separate areas. Edgewater runs from the lake to Ravenswood and from Foster to Devon. Within that, there are several neighborhoods, mostly named by realtors (Andersonville, West Andersonville, Edgewater Beach, East Edgewater, North Edgewater, Lakewood Balmoral, Edgewater Glen, Magnolia Glen, the Triangle). Thus, Johnny Sprocket moved from one part of Edgewater (Edgewater Beach) to another part of Edgewater (Andersonville).

Permalink Reply by Matthew [cannonball] Franzen on February 21, 2014 at 8:45am

Awesome. Literally a stones throw away from my house. Couldn't be happier. Much better location [=

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on February 21, 2014 at 5:12pm

holy wow, you're right. i can't believe i forgot that the auto shop was torn down ...in 2012.

yaj 7.4 said:

That address is the brand new building that just went up on Clark and it is super close to my place.  Excellent!  I'm looking forward to visiting my new neighbors.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on February 22, 2014 at 7:45am

 Difficult to get to? If you have a busted bike, flat, chain...it's right off the red line and 147. Andersonville is more upscale but Bryn Mawr is close to Loyola,the LFP and a younger crowd in Edgewater. A business doesn't stay "in business" for 13 years without business maybe their space will be bigger and attract a more affluent crowd.

Permalink Reply by Jerry Lee on February 24, 2014 at 4:43pm

good luck to them.. It was not too long ago that Andersonville bike shop, located 1 block north of this location, lasted less than a year.

  i remember other old bike shops in the area, one was on Berwyn, just off of Clark st, across from Reza. then there was so call bicycle shop at the southwest corner of Balmoral and broadway.the granddaddy of all bike shops in the area was London's Schwein bicycle at foster and Ashland across from Trumbull school, now a parking lot for the former funeral home.

Permalink Reply by J.P. on February 25, 2014 at 2:16pm

Sorry, it was the closest bike shop for me, but I haven't been there in a long while. As far as I am concerned... good riddance

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on February 25, 2014 at 3:33pm

Well aren't you cheery.

J.P. said:

Sorry, it was the closest bike shop for me, but I haven't been there in a long while. As far as I am concerned... good riddance

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