Sherwyn's Health Food Closed?

For decades, Sherwyn's on Diversey has been my go to place for vitamins and suppliments. I went there the other day and the place looked cleared out. The only thing there was some shelving with a few bottles of vitamins on them and signs in the window that read "closed for remodeling". Their phone is constantly out of order (not disconnected). Does anyone have the scoop on what's up with Sherwyn's? Do I have to start looking around for a substitute for my house labled Sherwyn's Only One Daily vitamins?

I noticed the same thing yesterday. I just googled to see if anything popped up, and this message from September showed up on a Reader blog:

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Senior store employee told me couple months ago the store was in financial trouble, owner old, ready to retire. Shelves gradually emptied, employees told to tell customers that stor was being remodelled, hence no re orders.
Through this Saturday, the sign on door said "closed for remodelling' but no sign of remodelling and phone # disconnected. I suspect a wonderful store is gone.. unless a new owner rejuvinates it.
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A friend of mine who is a commercial real estate broker in the neighborhood tells me that the competition from the Vitamin Shoppe and risng rents in the neighborhood drove them under.

The face of the neighborhood is really changing from independent businesses to chains and national retailers.

As for your viatmins, Stve, i must say that I have been quite please with the Mega Men Sport Vitamins that I have been buying at GNC for a while. A good combo of a multi-vitamin and herbals for metabolism and joint therapy.

YourPalWill wrote:As for your viatmins, Stve, i must say that I have been quite please with the Mega Men Sport Vitamins that I have been buying at GNC for a while. A good combo of a multi-vitamin and herbals for metabolism and joint therapy.

Will. Thanks for the lead.

i ran into sherwyn and his wife at whole foods last week and i was surprised when he said the shop was closed and he had retired. i didnt bring up the touchy subject of competition; i feared that competition might also have forced him to retire, but it was disappointing news. i was hoping he could offer some alternative to his own store, but couldnt.
the person who stocks the vitamins at the new sunflower market on clybourn shared her personal favorite store with me (when they didnt have a particular brand i wanted). she recommended a place called J's vitamins and more, at 5316 n. milwaukee, phone773-763-1917. i havent had a chance to check it out. but i was impressed that she didnt just try to steer me to one of their brands. she said she and her mother have been shopping there for years and the prices are comparatively low. anyone know the place? i mentioned it to sherwyn and he hadnt heard of it.

justjoan wrote: she recommended a place called J's vitamins and more, at 5316 n. milwaukee, phone773-763-1917. i havent had a chance to check it out. but i was impressed that she didnt just try to steer me to one of their brands. she said she and her mother have been shopping there for years and the prices are comparatively low. anyone know the place? i mentioned it to sherwyn and he hadnt heard of it.

J's (or Jay's) is close to my house and I have gone there a number of times when I couldn't make the trip to Sherwyn's or they were out of stock on a particular supplement. I don't like the place all that much, but it is well stocked. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and start going there on a regular basis.

I just got a terse email response to my enquiry as to the status of Sherwyn's.

Hi

Sorry we are currently out of business.

stevez wrote:I just got a terse email response to my enquiry as to the status of Sherwyn's.

Hi

Sorry we are currently out of business.

ummm...that's insane. i was just going to place an order online, since their site is still up. i'm glad my friend told me about it and i found this forum.

[]It saddens me to know that Sherwyn's is closed. In my opinion, no other health food store will ever come close to the dedication Sherwyn's had to natural healing, natural foods, etc. The staff there was very knowledgeable about herbs, vitamins and other supplements. You never had to worry about foods containing white sugar, white flour and the like. Too bad they did not let the Public know they were closing. I was a dedicated customer for over 20 years. I will truly miss them. I will buy most of my supplements Online because they are much cheaper. I will continue to read labels more closely in places like Whole Foods. No matter how any of them try, they will never come close to Sherwyn's. Yes, I shop at the Vitamin Shop, GNC and Whole Foods, but they do not come close to Sherwyn's. I like Life Spring located on Clark and Belmont. They have a wide variety of supplements. However, they do not have the many wonderful foods that Sherwyn's had. [/b]

grrrlennyl wrote:ummm...that's insane. i was just going to place an order online, since their site is still up. i'm glad my friend told me about it and i found this forum.

The store looks like they just locked the doors one day and walked away. There is still product on the shelves (although the little "office" near the front door is completely cleared out). I guess they just walked away from the website, too.