April 13, 2023

The lobby of Shriver Square will turn into a pop-up shop for a local streetwear company on Fridays and Saturdays throughout spring and summer.

Wake Originals will have its first event from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday in the mixed-use building at 230 S. Phillips Ave.

Shoppers will find T-shirts and hoodies created by Tyler Blake Weathersby and his wife, MonaLisa. The couple started their streetwear clothing brand as Wake by Tyler Blake in 2018.

With the guidance of Shriver Square owner Kevin Tupy, they worked on a rebranding of the business.

“He has been mentoring us and pushing us in a direction our business needs to go to hit the goals we’ve all dreamed of,” Weathersby said.

The clothing designer who grew up on the south side of Chicago sees great possibility in the opportunity Tupy is providing at Shriver Square.

“Look at the history of Ralph Lauren in NYC,” he said. “Beau Brummell gave him a shot at Bloomingdale’s in 1967,” where he started selling ties. The first Polo Ralph Lauren shop opened there two years later.

Tyler Blake Weathersby and Kevin Tupy

Wake will have another pop-up April 28 and 29 and then likely every Friday and Saturday starting in May. The shop will open at 3 p.m. on Fridays and noon on Saturdays.

As part of the rebrand, Wake is starting to do more work with local companies to source and produce its merchandise instead of shops in China, Weathersby said. Wake typically drops new items throughout the year and now will be able to do that even quicker, he said.

“Our main products are clean and simplistic,” he said. “Moving forward, when we do drops, we will keep it minimalist, one or two colors at a time.”

The current drop is black and white. Some items have large “Wake” logos, and others have smaller ones.

A portion of proceeds will be donated to charity as part of Wake Originals’ desire to give back to the community, Weathersby said. Their streetwear company was founded around self-love, self-awareness and building community.

While most of Wake’s clothing has been sold online at wakebtb.com, they’re excited about doing pop-ups, Weathersby said.

“We want to connect with people,” he said. “In e-commerce, what’s missing is meeting people. We need to be connecting with people.”

Weathersby is “just a really genuine, heartfelt person,” Tupy said. “I think a pop-up shop for his brand is ideal. … His brand really vibes well with the building’s ambience and aesthetic. We love what his brand stands for and what he’s doing with a portion of his profits.”

He’s open to using the building for other pop-ups to reactivate the common space, he said.

“Absolutely. We see this as a potential catalyst to bring in other creatives.”