Real Chicago stories start in your neighborhood
Get a daily digest of stories from all neighborhoods across Chicago. On Sundays, you’ll get our reporters’ best of the week, highlighting the people and places that make our neighborhoods home.
Real Chicago stories start in your neighborhood
Get a daily digest of stories from all neighborhoods across Chicago. On Sundays, you’ll get our reporters’ best of the week, highlighting the people and places that make our neighborhoods home.
Block Club Chicago
Your Neighborhood News Site
BEVERLY — Multiple businesses on 103rd Street in Beverly are closed to start the new year after police said a driver lost control of his vehicle and collided with a building early Thursday morning.
About 2:20 a.m. Thursday, a man in a white sedan was driving eastbound on the 1800 block of West 103rd Street when he lost control of the vehicle and jumped the curb, police said.
The car crashed into the side of a building, causing severe damage to multiple businesses: Beverly Phono Mart, 1808 W. 103rd St., the Beverly Area Arts Alliance’s Ephemera Gallery, 1810 W. 103rd St., and the FoundHERS Suite, 1808 W. 103rd St., 2nd Floor.
The affected businesses are closed until further notice, but online sales are still available at Beverly Phono Mart and neighbors are rallying to support the business.
Chantala Kommanivanh and Mallory McClaire opened the record store in August 2021. McClaire said the business’s facade was destroyed.
“We lost anything that was in the very front section of our store,” McClaire said.
Reginald Fisher, 41, of Blue Island, has been charged in connection with the crash with misdemeanor counts of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer and driving on a suspended license, police said. Additional citations were issued for failure to reduce speed, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and driving without a valid registration. Fisher is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 4.
An initial police statement said a driver was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in serious condition after the early morning collision. Police declined to answer questions about whether alcohol played a role in the crash.
Kommanivanh and McClaire spent Friday combing through the wreckage taking inventory of what was lost, McClaire said. The shop will not be able to reopen until repairs are complete, but McClaire said they plan to operate online.
“We are going to offer free delivery in the Beverly area, and we are working to establish a pick-up location,” she said.
The record store will continue to update its online inventory as much as possible for its regular customers, McClaire said.
“If there are things that people are looking for in particular or any upcoming releases that they are trying to get, as always we are happy to take pre-orders and can try and get our hands on it even though our doors are not open,” McClaire said.
Sal Campbell, co-founder and lead curator at the Beverly Area Arts Alliance, said that while the storefront was damaged, no artwork was destroyed.
The Arts Alliance opened the Ephemera Gallery last September ahead of the 2025 Beverly Art Walk. Campbell said the organization had recently raised funds to continue in the space in 2026.
“We were actually just getting ready to meet to plan out our year,” Campbell said. “This kind of puts a little wrench into those plans.”
The alliance planned on hosting workshops, shows and other events in the Ephemera Gallery.
“We were just really excited to have our own space,” Campbell said.
While the destruction was devastating, Campbell said the response from the community has been heartwarming.
“I think that people do want to help,” Campbell said. “We live in a great community. We have a history of supporting each other.”
For those looking to support the Beverly Area Arts Alliance, visit the organization’s website.
The FoundHERS Suite, a co-working space for women, was founded by LaTanya Orr in May 2024. Orr said the suite, which currently hosts eight companies, is closed until further notice due to the crash damaging the business’s front entryway.
The Funky Monkey Juice Bar, 1806 W. 103rd St., sustained damage to a storefront window; it remains open for normal business hours, according to a social media post.
Other businesses in the building, including Honey and Hue Bookstore, 1804 W. 103rd St., and Ohana Ice and Treats, 1800 W. 103rd St., are open for normal business hours.
Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:
EIN: 82-3844275
Block Club Chicago is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to delivering reliable, nonpartisan and essential coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods.
Sign in by entering the code we sent to , or clicking the magic link in the email.
Terms of Service.
Get the best of Block Club Chicago directly in your email inbox.
Sending to:
