Hazel
- February 2009Some of Lincoln Square's best spots can be found if you venture beyond what people think of as "the Square"—the stretch of Lincoln Avenue between Leland and Lawrence with Giddings Plaza at its heart. Great shops, restaurants, and businesses are around every corner in the neighborhood. There's no better example than Hazel, a chic shop that would be equally at home on the streets of New York, Paris, or London. It's nestled in a row of storefronts in the business district that surrounds the newly renovated Montrose Brown Line Station.
Hazel is the type of shop where you can find the perfect gift for anyone—your dad, your mom, your sister, your brother, and even your brother's child. While you're there shopping for someone else, there's a high likelihood that you might even end up walking out with a thing or two for yourself. There are lots of fabulous one-of-a-kind items from independent designers. And mundane items like file folders or scissors are transformed into objects full of personality and fun.
Owner David Vail opened Hazel in June 2002 and ran it out of a small storefront that was a former liquor store. The name came from a strong family memory. "My great grandparents had a farm in central Illinois called 'Hazel Green.' It was this idyllic place where we went camping as kids," recalls David. Hazel launched primarily as a card and invitation shop. "I had some gifts and did a bit of jewelry, but there really wasn't room to do much more," says David. Today, the shop has expanded to three storefronts wide—the length of the entire building. "About a year after Hazel opened, the spot next door opened up," he explains. "It was way sooner than I wanted to expand, but I thought I'd better take the opportunity then because I knew I'd regret it if I didn't." The expansion went smoothly with the exception of a single I-beam, which now hangs boldly in a doorway over Hazel's display cases. "It turned out to be a load-bearing beam that gave us a lot of trouble," explains David. "I figured that if it was going to cost me that much money to fix, then I wanted to be able to see it all the time."
The extra space really gave the jewelry at Hazel an opportunity to shine. "After we opened, the jewelry and handbags really took off," says David. "There really weren't many places to find these types of items in this area." He began to bring in a combination of work from local and national artists. Hazel is the exclusive Chicago dealer of Satellite jewelry, a colorful line from France. It also carries Saundra Messinger jewelry, known for its pairing of sterling silver with diamonds and its natural, biomorphic shapes. "She had a successful career as a lounge singer in New York before she started making jewelry," David says. "She believes in making diamond jewelry for the woman who's wearing it, not for anyone else." You can find delicate beaded necklaces, bracelets, and earrings from Deana Rose, a local designer. Other designers include Swallow, which makes glass bead jewelry out of Brooklyn, and Avindy, a line of handmade gemstone, silver, gold, and wood jewelry made by a mother/daughter team in Atlanta. "I like to work with a lot of independent jewelry designers across the country," says David. "I enjoy buying the jewelry the most."
One surprise at Hazel is that it has a good selection of gifts for men. "Good gifts for men can be really hard to find," says David, "so I always try to keep an eye out for them." Silkscreened ties, wallets, watches, flasks, and cufflinks are just a few of the items you can browse. All have a touch of whimsy, such as a pair of cufflinks with a pin-up girl or a bottle stopper made from a faucet handle.
There's also a selection of gifts for children that are far from ordinary. "We carry this line of wooden cars that an industrial designer created originally for his senior project," says David. "They're so cool, I wanted them for me." Other items include witty and politically oriented baby clothing and Alessi baby bowls. Everything rounds out with a few things for the home including flowers, original art, candles, and Daub & Bauble soap with exotic scents like fig, thyme, and clove. There's no question that David has an excellent eye for what to buy. "There's always a balance that you have to strike between what you personally like and what you think others will like," he explains. "I try to balance what's familiar and fashionable with something you haven't ever seen before. Every holiday season I get certain things in because everyone at some point needs to buy a brooch for grandma." Prices range from buttons for under a dollar all the way up to Saundra Messinger jewelry at $400 a piece. "I like to think that one line runs through everything here," explains David. "Everything is well designed, even if it's kitschy." On the kitschy end, Hazel occasionally brings in fun collectible items from Japan, such as tiny cereal-sized boxes filled with tiny ultra-real looking plastic renditions of sushi, donuts, airline meals, or vegetables. "Kidrobot in New York asked a bunch of Japanese designers to create these sets. They're blind boxed so you never know exactly which set you're going to get. A lot of great design comes out of Japan," says David. "I find it hard to resist."
Hazel emerged completely from the vision of its owner, whose eye for buying fantastic products is equally matched with his skill at artfully displaying them. David studied marketing at Purdue with plans to eventually become a buyer in the retail world. "I decided to come to Chicago to see if I could get my foot in the door at Marshall Field's." He succeeded, and eventually became a visual manager in jewelry and writing instruments. "I was in charge of the windows, as well as all of displays on the fashion floors," recalls David. Later, he became a manager and buyer for an additional store that the owner of Uncle Fun on Belmont opened. "Ted came to me and asked me to help him launch another store on Southport, called Flypaper. He knew I was interested in starting my own business and he thought it would be a good opportunity to experience what it was like to open and run a business, to see if I liked it." He did, and Flypaper paved the way for his success at Hazel. It's presented a stage for David to set with incredible displays ranging from a Parker Pen case from the 1930s to a vintage bathroom vanity. They all create a perfect atmosphere for Hazel's distinctive products.
It may have grown in size, but Hazel has not abandoned its roots as a stationery and paper store. David is a devotee to the fine art of correspondence, which may seem in the days of email to be a dying art. He travels regularly to paper shows in New York, where he sees a strong contingent from Chicago. "There are a lot of creative people doing cards right now, and so many of them are right here on Ravenswood," he says. "It's fun when I go to New York for the stationery show and there's this whole group of creative designers from Chicago." Some of those local stationery designers include Zuzu Designz, Snow & Graham, BINTH, Mudlark, and A. Favorite Design. You'll find a broad selection of cards, stationery, notebooks, and wrapping paper. For something that truly has your own mark, Hazel also offers custom stationery, wedding invitations, birth announcements, and more. "Paper people are great. It's really its own culture," explains David. "At a time when paper seems to be going away, there are a lot of people like us who love paper and correspondence pieces."
Hazel has everything you could need to keep your paramour happy on Valentine's Day. Most recently, David added a really special and beautiful selection of flowers. "I added these after our local florists closed within six months of each other," explains David. "Neighbors needed the area really needed somewhere to get fresh flowers and bouquets." He tends to expand the number of flowers available around holidays like Valentine's Day. So visit Hazel this month, or next month, to find something for yourself or for a gift for that person who's always the hardest to buy for. You'll soon realize why David has such loyal customers that they kept him in business even through the year-long closure of the Montrose CTA Station and a total collapse of the street due to a water main break. "I love the neighborhood and I really love our customers," says David. "I'm lucky—I really have the best customers here, and I've worked in a lot of places. I really love what I do and can't imagine doing anything else." You'll also understand what's so special about the experience of shopping at Hazel. "The most important thing about having a neighborhood shop is not necessarily what you put in it," says David, "but how people feel when they come in."
Hazel
1902 West Montrose Avenue
Chicago, IL 60613
773.769.2227
www.hazelchicago.com
Hours
Monday through Saturday 11am - 7pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm
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