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CHICAGO — The Little Village neighborhood in Chicago experienced a much-needed surge in business activity thanks to Black Friday shopping.
This vibrant community has recently been at the center of federal immigration enforcement, prompting efforts to rejuvenate the area.
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Recent months have been challenging for Little Village businesses, as federal immigration activities led many to avoid the neighborhood. Now that these operations are tapering off and the holiday season is underway, local business owners are optimistic about attracting more shoppers.
“It has been tough. We were struggling in many ways; people were scared of deportation, and they stopped coming out, so our sales plummeted,” explained Eduardo Vazquez, the store manager at Rosy’s Bakery.
This year’s Black Friday holds extra significance for businesses along 26th Street in Little Village. They are hopeful for a recovery in sales after enduring such a difficult period.
“Slow, very slow business, very slow,” Tony’s Fashion owner Antonio Rueda said. “Mostly a lot of people are afraid to come out because of ICE.”
Tony’s Fashion is known for its dresses and luxury clothing, which has also been hit by President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. The owner says while fewer customers are coming, it’s also costing much more to bring in merchandise.
“Our dresses maybe went up maybe $300 more, $200 more,” Rueda said.
On Black Friday, there was a little more action in the neighborhood as people try to shop for the holiday season. Business owners were seeing things improve one sale at a time.
“Little by little, we’re starting to see increase in sales, but it’s not dramatic,” Vazquez said. “It’s little by little. People are still afraid.”
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“We are seeing more customers come in, these are new faces we’re seeing,” Nuevo León restaurant owner Laura Gutierrez-Ramos said. “To be honest with you, the support has been from new people, which we appreciate. We haven’t seen some of our old customersm but we have to unify at this position of time.”
Gutierrez-Ramos says it’s hard not to wonder about many of those regulars they haven’t seen in quite some time.
“What’s happening?” she said. “Are they okay? Are they still around? We just don’t know.”
It’s a slow recovery for many of the shops that have been there for decades and are now just trying to hang on.
“I think we’ll be okay for the time being, slowly but surely we’ll have some good days and bad days in between, but we’ll take whatever comes our way,” Gutierrez-Ramos said.
The owner at Tony’s Fashion says he’ll be running 20% off on many items for the holidays.
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A bit more people were seen out shopping Friday, despite the cold.
