![]() It’s a story that Pendleton and the team at Overflow are bringing to light. is fast becoming the biggest little giant in the industry.” Yet, while much has been written about Chicago’s own Chess Records, the cultural contributions of Vee-Jay Records has largely been overlooked. The opening line of a 1961 profile in Ebony magazine offers insight into the label’s significance: “Among America’s top record manufacturers-the men who know recordings best-Chicago’s hit making Vee-Jay Record Co. At the time, Vee-Jay Records was the largest Black-owned record label in the U.S.-before Motown, there was Vee-Jay. Michigan at the height of the label’s popularity. In the 50s and 60s, Vee-Jay Records founders Vivian Carter and her husband James Bracken were notable fixtures on Record Row, setting up shop at 2129 S. “And then we found out the history of this building.” “We found this location on 14th and Michigan and I think as a team, we got the consensus that this is something we could grow into and offer things that we couldn’t in the space before,” says Overflow coffee director, Kari Pendleton. With little time to relocate, the Overflow team swiftly sought new dwellings that would house Entrenuity’s headquarters, a coworking space, and the coffee shop. Brian Jenkins with a mission to support Black, Brown, and women entrepreneurs, Overflow thrived for many years in a shared multiuse space on State Street before its lease was terminated in 2019. Owned by Entrenuity, a not-for-profit business incubator founded by L. Overflow Coffee opened on Michigan Avenue in South Loop in early 2021 after a two-year-long renovation, but the cafe isn’t new to the neighborhood. For this edifice, the arrival of the coffee shop came with a renovation of its structure and a restoration of its soul. Michigan, once the headquarters of the groundbreaking recording company Vee-Jay Records, had indeed seen its share of dark days but now it’s home to the not-for-profit Overflow Coffee. Often these structures appear to have been resuscitated by their inevitable transition into something vapid like a boutique dental office, a pet grooming salon, or a chain restaurant, when really, they’ve entered the Sunken Place. Best of Chicago 2022: Sports & RecreationĪll of us have been witness to the slow erasure of a once legendary building.Best of Chicago 2022: Music & Nightlife.Get your Best of Chicago tickets! Line-Up Announced > Close
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