Mount Greenwood Cleaners Closes Permanently: Biz Beat

CHICAGO — Mt. Greenwood Cleaners closed its doors for good after several decades in the neighborhood on Saturday. Owner Audrey Kahne said she was not able to rebuild the business at its new location since opening it a year ago near 111th and Kedzie after accusations surfaced that the business had contaminated the ground at their longtime location on 111th Street between Drake and Central Park avenues. The current fears surrounding the pandemic over the new coronavirus also led to her decision to close, she said.

"It wasn't an easy decision," Kahne said. "I just loved being able to serve Mount Greenwood and the surrounding area."

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency found last year that the chemical levels in the ground surrounding the old location were safe levels. But Kahne said that was "not broadcasted" in the media, and a number of neighborhood residents believed the rumor that high levels of contaminants were in some part responsible for the cancer cluster in the 19th Ward.

"If that was the problem, my brothers would have died of cancer, my dad would have died of cancer and the seamstress we had working there for years would have died of cancer," Kahne said. "Everyone who worked here on a daily basis would have died."

Kahne said the issue with the EPA centered around a spill that turned out to be "in the amount of a 16 oz. bottle of pop." It was of the chemical compound perchlorate, which is often used by dry cleaning companies.

Kahne's father had owned the business for about 30 years, buying it from another family who had it as a cleaners for several years before that. Kahne said he owned another business in the neighborhood, A&B Leather, which was eventually merged into Mt. Greenwood Cleaners.

Her father retired at one point and leased the cleaners out to several others who "ran the place into the ground," she said.

"The last person who ran the place wasn't paying rent so he got evicted," Kahne said. "I stayed there to make sure everyone got all there items back."

Even though the place closed for good on Saturday, Kahne said she will still work on contacting customers to pick up their clothes that have still been left behind. Fears over leaving home amid the coronavirus pandemic have left customers hesitant to pick them up, she said.

She will likely be at the old location near Mt. Greenwood Park on Saturday to allow for pick-up of those items.