Andy’s Frozen Custard in the Loop’s Block 37 mall is closing the company announced Tuesday.
The shop, located on the lower level, will shutter indefinitely on Saturday July 7, the company said in a statement.
“The decision to close the Block 37 store was very difficult, but traffic was just not where it needed to be to continue in this location,” said Andy Kuntz, the company’s president, in a statement.
The Block 37 location, which has been open since October 2010, was at the mercy of a largely commuter traffic crowd passing through on their way to and from work — times when consumers are less likely to crave custard.
Foot traffic at Block 37 never gained traction during the key times when consumers might be more custard-friendly, such as lunchtime, dinner and on the weekend, according to spokesman Gary Silbar. “Andy’s Frozen Custard does an awful lot of business in the stores on the weekend,” he said.
This is the first corporate Andy’s location to close, Silbar added. Despite the shuttering, he said, sales in the Block 37 shop and across the company are up this year.
To mark the closing, Kuntz will be distributing complimentary frozen custard from noon to 5 p.m. on Friday at the State Street location. Free custard cones will also be distributed from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to the downtown lunch hour crowd at the northwest corner of State and Washington.
Founded in 1986 and based in Springfield, Mo., Andy’s Frozen Custard operates three additional stores in the Chicago area, including, Evanston, Bolingbrook and Oak Lawn. Andy’s has 17 locations in four states including its base in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and Texas.
crshropshire@tribune.com | Twitter: @corily
