While many storefronts on Madison Street and Roosevelt Road in Forest Park are occupied, you may or may not know that a handful are for sale.
Roosevelt Road properties for sale include McGaffer’s Saloon and ABC Automotive. On Madison Street, the building housing Robert’s Westside, Shanahan’s, and the strip mall near Van Buren Street are on the market — along with Brown Cow at 7347 Madison St.
Connie Brown, owner of Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor, announced last week that she’s putting the building and business up for sale.
“With a lot of thought over the past year, and with the mortgage up for renewal and my three children now adults, I have decided it is time to find new owners who will continue to grow the brand and retire from the ice cream business,” Brown said in an email.
The announcement follows over two decades of Brown Cow. Brown quit her marketing job in 2003 and, the following year, launched Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor to follow her dream of creating a family, community-centered shop on Madison Street.
When the small-batch manufacturer, who made Brown Cow’s ice cream using Brown’s recipes, discontinued offerings during the Covid-19 pandemic, Brown decided to make her own ice cream. She bought the 4,200-square-foot building in 2019, and received over $60,000 from a GoFundMe campaign to help with renovations. After being closed for six months, Brown Cow reopened in the spring of 2021 with an in-house creamery.
“I’m so proud of the company I built and beyond grateful to have been embraced by our community. The Brown Cow has grown to become a beloved brand in the Midwest and named best ice cream in America,” Brown said. “The company has grown to a point where it requires increased time and resources to allow it to continue to grow. Essentially, the business I started 22 years ago when I was just 28 years old has outgrown me.”
For example, what started as an ice cream shop now sells cakes, pies, cookies and brownies and has an event team to help organize birthday parties and catering opportunities for Brown Cow.
“This community has been my chosen family,” Brown said. “Thank you for being a part of our lives.”
Robert’s Westside and office tenants, 7321 Madison St.
Another building that has long been for sale on Madison Street is the one that houses Robert’s Westside. Donnie Biggins, owner of Robert’s Westside, leases space for his music venue that opened in Nov. 2023. Steve Glinke, director of the village’s building department, said the building has been on the market for years.
Andy Sokol, president of The Sokol Group real estate development and brokerage, said he’s had the building that Robert’s Westside is housed in listed since the middle of 2023.
Sokol said his group owns the building at 7417 Roosevelt Rd., which is also for sale. It currently houses Blue Cab and C&P Auto Express.
Shanahan’s, 7353 Madison St.
A mainstay on Madison Street for 35 years, Shanahan’s may soon see a change in ownership.
“My partners and I have decided it is the right time to retire,” said Tim Shanahan in an email. “The customers, my staff, as well as all of my neighbors and the entire village of Forest Park have made for a very special place to be in business.”
“Most independent, individually owned businesses are continually up for sale,” Shanahan added. “As such, timing and price are the constant two determining factors. Prime locations, such as 7353 Madison St. in Forest Park, will continue to evolve and grow to meet the needs of our ‘Big City Access, Small Town Charm’ Madison St. business environment.”
Strip mall, 7736-7748 Madison St.
As the owner of the 12,000 square-foot strip mall is no longer able to manage the building near Van Buren Street, his family is in the process of liquidating his assets, according to Glinke.
Today, the strip mall’s occupants include Empowering Gardens, Elite Fitness, TraciDani Beauty and Grooming Agency Studio, Papa John’s Pizza, Candio-Med and Pain Center and Zesty Catering.
7525 W. Madison St.
A U.S. Bank branch sat at the corner of Madison and Des Plaines Ave. before it closed in 2020. According to a previous interview with the Review, the closure was a part of a wider company plan to optimize their branches. The 6,000-square-foot building has been on the market since.
Glinke said, though he’s had developers interested in the lot, the alley behind the building, off of Des Plaines, can get busy. There’s often 18 wheelers and food trucks accessing the alley for nearby businesses.
“That makes it extremely challenging for developing the corner,” Glinke said. “I don’t think it’s beyond development, but in this environment, filling 6,000 square feet is a really, really big challenge.”
McGaffer’s, 7737 Roosevelt Rd.
On Roosevelt Road, McGaffer’s closed indefinitely in October after its owner, Pat Malone, was pushed and fell at the bar. Though Malone is now doing well – and had a street named after him in May – his 0.72 acre lot is now on the market.
ABC Automotive and Electronics, 7213 W. Roosevelt Rd.
ABC used to be located at Harlem and Cermak, Glinke said, and is moving from its Roosevelt Road location to a larger space to have more room to focus on upfitting squad cars for police departments.
Glinke said he’s had people who are interested in the property call about the 5,600-square-foot Roosevelt Road building, but a lack of parking in the area has made it difficult to sell.
Running and attracting businesses in Forest Park
The village has a handful of Tax Increment Financing districts, where the village can use property tax revenues generated by development to make improvements along the thoroughfare. Roosevelt Road Corridor is one such TIF district, as is Harlem Avenue and the intersection of Circle Avenue and Harlem.
Village Administrator Rachell Entler said that in the coming months, she’s putting together a facade program for businesses in those TIF districts, so they can get some financial assistance to update their buildings’ exteriors.
“Without strong economic, reliable current businesses, it can make it hard to sell Forest Park,” Entler said.
Entler and Glinke are discussing strategies to attract businesses to Forest Park, including in TIF districts.
Glinke said he’s cold called several businesses to gauge interest. Entler has been networking, consistently looking for insight and leads when she attends continuing education classes and conferences.
“How do we sell Forest Park and get people to come here?” she said.
Because the village doesn’t have staff specifically dedicated to economic development, Entler and Glinke often bring in Financial Director Letitia Olmsted to help recruit businesses. They’re also calling on the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce, which supports and promotes existing businesses. In this way, Entler said she’s trying to create an in-house economic development program of sorts for the village.
“While we figure out our financial situation, we don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on a consultant to help us do this,” Entler said. “We’re a little naive in what we’re doing, but I don’t know that that’s necessarily a bad thing.”
Entler wants to create a list of resources in the village that she can share with business owners looking to move in. For example, she said Forest Park Bank frequently works with small businesses and could be a potential asset to new village shops. She also mentions David King and other commercial real estate agents who know Forest Park well.
“What is it that they offer that I can speak to?” Entler says.
Entler and Glinke have also considered packaging certain properties in the village into a single parcel for redevelopment.
“We’re really aggressively trying to pursue these revenue-generating businesses, and it’s tough. In a competitive environment where other towns have money to throw at people, we’re at a distinct strategic disadvantage,” Glinke said. “We’re depending on hustle, mixed with a little bit of good fortune. So far, we’ve done a lot of good things, things the residents should be proud of.”
Glinke said, though he’s seen businesses come and go over the years, Forest Park’s commercial climate is in a solid spot right now, especially on Madison Street.
“I’ve seen the street go from nothing to something to nothing to something to nothing to something,” Glinke said. “Having the institutional memory to recall the good times and the bad times, we’re in a pretty good position right now.”
He partially chalks that up to a “new group of young movers and shakers” that have come to Madison Street, like the owners of Robert’s Westside, Babs Comedy Club and Play it Again Sports. “They bring fresh energy to the street.”
But it’s no easy feat running a small business in 2025.
“This is a very challenging environment to run a small business,” Glinke said. He added that those who own commercial buildings have steep real estate taxes, and those who rent in those buildings often see that reflected in monthly payments to landlords. “I think you need a different level of liquidity to open a small business these days.”
Correction, July 17, 9:30 a.m.: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the status of Shanahan’s. The restaurant will remain open, though its owners are retiring. We apologize for the error.