The Chicago Newsstand

On May 16, 1978, Joe Angelastri opened up the corner newsstand that would become the largest magazine store in Chicago, and one of the largest news newsstands in the country, City Newsstand. Twenty-five years later it has grown into the two largest newsstands in Chicagoland and it’s still growing! Just how big is the selection at City Newsstand? While the average supermarket or drug store has up to 20 linear feet of magazine racks, City Newsstand has 200 linear feet of magazine racks — ten times as many! Of course it’s not about the fixtures, it’s about the magazines, and City Newsstand has so many magazines on so many different subjects it can be mind-boggling. From motor sports to music, politics to poetry, or collectibles to comics, City Newsstand has something for everyone. City Newsstand’s selection is so diverse that some customers come from as far away as Iowa and Wisconsin to shop there.

In 1999 Joe began hearing rumors that the City of Evanston was interested in purchasing the old Chicago-Main Newsstand with the idea of knocking it down and extending the park that lay to the south of it. But many in the community wanted it to be a newsstand again. In 2000, Eric Singer, owner of the Lucky Platter restaurant down the street from Chicago-Main and 3rd ward Alderman Melissa Wynne contacted Joe. Once Joe was chosen officially, he brought in Evanston architect Dave Forte to bring the old brick newsstand into the 21st century. After taking the original structure down to just 2 walls and the foundation, a new steel support structure was erected, a glass and aluminum storefront was installed, a higher roof was implemented to allow more natural light in through high windows on the north wall. Another accomplishment was acquiring the original neon sign, having it refurbished and re-hung on a newly erected standard.