The shop opens next month in the Goldblatt’s building. It will carry Back-of-the-Yards-themed accessories, clothing and products.
blockclubchicago.org – BACK OF THE YARDS — An online apparel and accessories business is opening its first brick-and-mortar store in the multimillion-dollar United Yards development at West 47th Street and Ashland Avenue.
La Selva Shop will open next month on the first floor of the Goldblatt’s building, 1607 W. 47th St. The new store will be open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Customers can also shop online.
The store will carry Back-of-the-Yards-themed products, including clothing, accessories and shoes.
“I feel very excited — it’s totally different than what the neighborhood’s had. It’s like a gift from me to the community,” said owner Rolando Santoyo, a graphic designer who grew up in Back of the Yards.
Santoyo started the shop after noticing there were no Back-of-the-Yards-themed items among the T-shirts, hats or other swag sold by the vendors who offer Pilsen or Little Village apparel at neighborhood festivals.
Santoyo started by designing T-shirts for friends but soon found neighbors were eager to wear apparel that showed Back of the Yards pride.
“We have a lot of people that still believe, love and cherish the memories from being here in the neighborhood,” he said.
Santoyo expanded his collection and opened an online shop, which attracted a local following — and even customers from other states, he said.
“This is a beautiful community with beautiful, hard-working, very resilient people,” he said. “We’ve seen the worst, but we’ve all seen the best.”
With T-shirts, hats, hoodies, jackets, pins, mugs, water bottles and other accessories, Santoyo celebrates the history of the neighborhood — including the Union Stockyards, the meat-packing district that employed more than 40,000 people in the 1920s.
La Selva, or “The Jungle,” is a callback to writer Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel of the same name, which portrayed the lives of exploited immigrants working in the Chicago stockyards, Santoyo previously said.
“The more I read about the neighborhood, the most I was like, ‘Man, this is a cool hood,’” he said.
After years of selling online and at Back of the Yards Coffee and pop-ups, having a storefront will allow Santoyo to expand his product line, sell books and host events for neighbors, he said.
Santoyo will also collaborate with local businesses to create new products like earrings and candles, he said. Local businesses Nisha Jewelry, which makes jewelry with gemstones, and Freedomlie State of Mind, a bath and body apothecary, will also sell their products at the store.
“I want it to be a store, but at the same time, everything’s gonna be [about] community here,” Santoyo said.
Santoyo also hopes the shop becomes an example for young people in the neighborhood, who can see themselves represented by a local, first-generation business owner.
Earlier this year, Santoyo created a special “Know Your Rights” T-shirt dedicated to Hamline Elementary’s teachers, students and families after Chicago Public Schools officials mistakenly said federal immigration authorities had visited the school. It was later confirmed that Secret Service agents — not Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials — had gone to the school.
All sales of the T-shirt are donated to local nonprofit Increase the Peace’s efforts to support immigrants, Santoyo said.
As the son of immigrants who arrived in the neighborhood from Mexico in the ’70s, Santoyo said the neighborhood taught him that “hard work is more than a value — it’s a way of life,” he said.
“This grand opening isn’t just about a store — it’s about a dream, a journey and a celebration of the people who made it possible. Back of the Yards has always been strong, and La Selva Shop is my gift to the community that saw me grow up,” he said.
