Week Two: Storefronts

Namaskar (greetings) Everyone!

My task for my second week in the internship was to begin taking pictures of storefronts that had the following signs or appearance: sale, closing, grand opening, coming soon, or an empty store. Many may not be familiar with Devon Ave so I will give a brief introduction to the types of stores that are available. There is a plethora of restaurants, clothing boutiques, and video rental stores that cater to the Indo-Pak community. Since there is such a large quantity of stores, there is a lot of competition! There are always stores closing down and similar ones opening up in their place. It was extremely cold when I went out to take pictures, but it was eventful nonetheless. I was able to take several pictures from Campbell Ave to Talman Ave and even grab some chai and somosas from a restaurant called Annapurna with a friend! This is only one block, but I found several storefronts that had recently opened, had been remodeled or closed down. I pass by these stores often, but it had never occurred to me at the unusual amount of new and closing stores that could be found in such as small section of Devon Ave. Below are some of the pictures I took and a short description about the history of the store.

This is the newly opened restaurant Urban India. The restaurant caters to an upscale dining experience and serves dishes mostly from the northern regions of India. The Gandhi restaurant was here prior to Urban India. Gandhi restaurant is known to have been the first Indian restaurant on Devon Ave. 

Pita Xpress Grill is another new restaurant that opened a month ago and is merely a couple blocks down. The owners are Muslim and would like to cater to the Muslim population and therefore offer halal meat dishes.This is a fairly large restaurant and actually takes up the space of two stores that were previously closed down. The restaurant offers Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern cuisine. Some of their entrees combine seasonings from all three regions!

 

Taj Sari Palace is not a new store, but it recently went through renovations on the interior and exterior. Since the renovation the prices of the outfits have gone up as well. The store is known for selling traditional Indian and Pakistani outfits and accessories.

This was a video rental store that went out of business a couple of months ago. There are two other video stores right next door to this one, so it is understandable as to why this one closed down. Also online movie databases such as Netflix and even YouTube have started to offer Bollywood movies, so there is less of a demand for movie stores such as this one. 

 I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures and there will be more to come! For my next assignment I will take a trip to the Chicago History Museum, so stay tuned!

 

Introduction

Namaskar (greetings) everyone!

This is my first post regarding my research for the DADHA Project. The project is a digital historical and contemporary archive of the stretch of Devon Ave east-west from N. Broadway to Kedzie Ave. DADHA essentially traces the histories of the experiences, past and present, of the individuals and communities of Devon Ave. This project is not only a research experience for me, it is also an opportunity for me to show the beauty of this developing neighborhood. I would also like to bring the experiences of the people within the community to light because they are unique and show the hardships and triumphs of immigrants in a large metropolis. I am Indian and Bangladeshi and actually grew up in the Devon area and have very close ties to the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi community. Within two decades of living in this neighborhood, I have witnessed not only changes in the physical landscape of the area, but also the demographic changes with the migration of many Indo-Pak families to the suburbs of Chicago. The project has several parts and jobs pertaining to it. The tasks that I am assigned to for the following month are to take pictures within the Rogers Park neighborhood, specifically on Devon Avenue and visit the Chicago History Museum. I am also going to attend alderman and chamber of commerce meetings in the following weeks as well.  During my first week, I completed the CITI course. The course took me roughly four hours to complete, but it was well worth it because now I will be able to conduct interviews! I am really looking forward to this aspect of the project. This will enable me to conduct interviews within the Rogers Park neighborhood in the near future.

The picture above was taken by me and it is the north-east corner of Devon Ave and Campbell. This is the typical scene of  Devon with neon signs, posters of the newly-opened stores and remnants of closed down stores. Since one of my tasks is to take pictures of store fronts and people within the community, there will be tons of pictures to come in the future. So please stay tuned!