The Op Shop

I just went to SHoP for the first time, and I was really pleased. I got a little tour of the place, and it seems like a really cool, intimate culture/​art center. The thrift store was small but great, and the prices are dirt cheap. My friend and I actually forgot to bring our wallets, and the woman there told us we could just take the stuff and come back with money later, (but we felt bad so we went to a nearby ATM before purchasing). Cool place, definitely recommended if you’re in the area. I haven’t been to any of the events, and it’s too bad that it’s closing/​moving after this year…

Here is the website for this place: south​side​hub​.org/
The entity that Lisa K was referring to (we happened to be visiting it at the same time) is everything she says it is, but just to clarify this overall Unilocal listing, it is indeed now the South Side Hub of Prouction (S.H.o.P.), which is a different thing than the Op Shop although they have the same friendly artist impresario. SHoP will be around through June and is on Woodlawn Avenue in a big Victorian mansion next door to the complex of church buildings on the corner of 57^th and Woodlawn. I tried to add it to Unilocal as its own «business» but got some weird error message. This institution is a better reason than the University of Chicago to live in (otherwise rather staid) Hyde Park. As Dylan said, «Summer days, summer nights are gone/​I know a place where there’s still something going on.» Yes!

This is a truly amazing community venture. There’s always something going on (facebook seems to be a good place to get the information). We strolled in one day and saw as much art as I would expect to see in a gallery or small museum, with the bonus of running into one of the artists at work and being able to talk with him. To me it has a found/​outsider feel to it. And there was some kind of thrift store/​garage sale action going on! And there’s a bar? And don’t forget the house itself is gorgeous, so it’s a pleasure just to walk around in there!
My only confusion is if it’s called Southside Hub of Production now?

This Op Shop, which celebrates «Agri-​Culture, is packed with charm. Hay bales provide seating and table space and candles and small lamps provide ambient light. The huge windows are lined with rustic, but elegant structures holding flats of wheat grass and seedlings. Potlucks, which take place on a table long and laden enough for the Mad Hatter’s dinner party occur every Sunday. Instructive and recreational events take place all week (presentations on urban beekeeping and chicken raising, music performances, films, cooking classes). As Suzanne E mentions, there is a beautifully organized seed exchange. This Shop will only be in existence until the end of April. Its really a great thing to have in the Neighborhood – even though it is only for a short time!