Well, after Filter fell to the Bank of America machine, we figured it was only a matter of time before Lake View’s last bastion for the leather-clad, The Alley, went the way of the dinosaur as well. Sure enough, when we chatted up The Alley’s executive vice president in charge of marketing, Todd Finklestein, while in the store shopping for an $85 shirt with holes in it, he told us The Alley empire will be replaced by a Gap store by year’s end.
“It’ll be sad to leave Lake View after being here for so long, but this is the kind of neighborhood that needs a Gap, not a rock clothing store. And a cigar store. And a wicked jewelry store.” Yes, Finklestein said, all of the Alley shops will be vacating, and he said that Chase and Jimmy John’s have expressed interest in the storefronts The Alley will vacate on Belmont. “Personally,” Finklestein said, “I’d like to see a Great Clips move in. Wicked ‘dos, man. Wicked.”
As for The Alley? Are they packing up and moving to Logan Square?
“Sauganash, man,” said Finklestein. “Freaking Sauganash is where it’s at these days.”