End Of An Era For One Of Chicago Area's Last Magic & Novelty Shops
(CBS) -- Riley's Trick shop in Palos Hills has been making people laugh for decades.
Jim Riley Senior opened as a general store in Worth in 1937. His son, Jim Riley Junior, moved the shop to Palos Hills last year and has struggled ever since.
"We thought moving to strip mall would help and we'd feed off neighboring businesses, but when those business closed, we knew were in trouble," said Riley Jr.
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Now after decades of fake vomit, practical jokes, magic, chattering teeth and wacky costumes, the shop is closing its doors after 77 years.
"It's just something we had to do; there was just no way around it. It was a business decision," said Riley.
He blames online access and big box stores for the decline in business over the past year.
"The industry has gone to big boxes. Those pop up stores that open every Halloween, the just killed everything. They have a lot of money behind them, they can do a ton of advertising and people just equate advertising with quality, but that's not always the case."
Since the announcement, he says he's had an outpouring of support from his customers.
"I think my customers are more upset than I am."
Riley says closing is bittersweet because the shop was everything to his father but he knows the time has come for him to have the last laugh.
"We've had a lot of fun here and people usually leave with a smile."
Doors will close he says when he gets rid of the last of his inventory. After that, Riley, who published a book of shop and family stories called "Oh Really, Riley?: The Story of Riley's Trick Shop and the Family Behind It," says he plans to write an updated version with new stories and a final chapter.
