About this location
A few stories people tell about this place
1. One morning, a delivery driver pulled up to Kinzie Cleaners and noticed something odd: the sign outside read ‘Closed for Good,’ but when he looked inside, the lights were on and the door opened easily. Curious, he stepped in—and found no one. As he called out hello, an old radio on the counter crackled to life with static and a faint voice saying: 'Welcome back, Mr. Smith.' Startled, our hero realized it was just an old-timey advertisement playing endlessly. Relieved, he left with his shirts, only to hear from a neighbor later that day: 'Did you know they’ve been open twenty-four seven since 1987?'
2. A sign appeared one day in the window of Kinzie Cleaners: ‘Cleaned clothes return you happy.’ Soon, customers started noticing that their cleaned shirts had smiles embroidered on them. Soon enough, people began asking for more than just a smile—some wanted hearts or stars sewn onto their shirts. One particularly amused customer even requested a tiny dancing penguin. The owner laughed and obliged, and before long, Kinzie Cleaners became known as much for its whimsical embroidery as it was for clean laundry.
3. One afternoon, a delivery driver pulled into Kinzie Cleaners’ lot and heard an unfamiliar voice over the intercom: 'All shirts must be turned inside out before pickup!' The delivery driver looked around nervously but saw no one. Curious, he flipped his shirt inside out and left. Later that evening, as he was hanging up his clothes, his neighbor popped in and asked, ‘Hey, why are you wearing your shirt backwards?’ The driver shrugged and said, ‘Oh, they told me to at Kinzie Cleaners.’ They both laughed, realizing it was just another quirky Chicago tale.
4. One summer day, a little girl followed her mom into Kinzie Cleaners. As she walked past the counter, she stopped suddenly, pointing at the ceiling and whispering, 'Mommy, why are there clothes hanging here?' The mother looked up and saw nothing but the usual drying racks. ‘Honey,’ she said with a smile, ‘those are just special hangers for our clothes.’ The little girl nodded thoughtfully, then giggled and asked if they could come back again soon. The cleaner, overhearing their conversation, winked at the mom and whispered, ‘We try to make every visit as magical as possible!’