At one time in my neighborhood in Chicago most blocks had at least one storefront building, in some cases it was a corner building to catch the travel from 2 directions but sometimes it was in the middle of a block and today they are mostly gone. My block had 4, on the left side as I looked out across the street was a small grocery store and the family lived on the second floor. Across the street almost directly in front of us was a neighborhood tavern with a pool room attached. Then on the right side corner across the street was another neighborhood tavern with 2 flats above it and one was occupied by the owner of the building.
On my side of the street on the right side was my favorite store, a small candy store and the owner lived in a small apartment in back of the store with her daughter and son-in-law living in a 2nd floor apartment. Here is where I spent my $.75 I earned by helping a neighbor keep an eye on her children while she was writing a book. Almost all of it was penny candy. WOW.
Today that is valuable real estate and the small stores did not survive. Here are a few examples of how the stores have been disguised to create another apartment in the buildings that survived the wrecking ball.
kathy70 
Corner buildings are so interesting, great selections.
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Thanks so much for your kind comments 😊
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These are great doors! I love corner doors. I remember being able to walk to four different stores in our neighborhood. All owned by people who lived in the building that housed the store. In so many ways, it was more convenient than today’s delivery-centric shopping.
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Yes, yes, yes. It was certainly a simpler way of life and we managed to make do with whatever we could purchase at the small store. If I was short on money, it would simply be put in the notebook and I came back later to pay, what a concept. Thanks so much for your comments. I may very well use one of these doors to write about.
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I look forward to that.
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