“After 50 years in the neighborhood, Belmont Army Vintage is closing this spring to make way for a new apartment development — but relocation of the beloved resale shop is still a possibility.
“The clothing and military surplus shop at 925 W. Belmont Ave. announced in an Instagram post Friday that the store will be shuttering in May and that all items are on sale at 50 percent off the normal price. The closure comes as Belmont Army Vintage is set to lose its building to a development scheduled to break ground this year.
“Mavrek Development is planning to turn the brick retail building near the Belmont L stop into a five-story, 46-unit apartment building with 5,300 square feet of ground-floor retail and seven parking spaces.
“‘We are sad to announce that [Belmont Army Vintage] will be closing in May. We have been serving Chicago for 50 years and have loved every moment of it,” management said in the social media post. ‘With new construction taking our building, we had to make the difficult decision to end our time here.’
“Belmont Army Vintage opened in 1975 at 985 W. Belmont Ave. before moving to 855 W. Belmont Ave. It moved to its current location at 925 W. Belmont Ave. in 2018.
“Though the apartment development has been in the works for over a year, Carmichael said that Belmont Army Vintage owners, who rent out the building from a “uncommunicative” landlord, were officially alerted in February that the development was moving forward and the business would be displaced
“‘It sucks,’ they added. ‘This has been somewhat of a passion project for me.’
“The new project spares the Ann Sather restaurant at 909 W. Belmont Ave., which was to be redeveloped under the earlier plans.” (Thrush, Block Club Chicago, 3/24/25)