Made in Chicago - Participating Companies: Beverages, Building Supplies, Clothing/Equipment

Beverages

Clover Club Bottling

Clover Club Bottling manufacturers and bottles a variety of sodas, including the 75-year-old Green River brand. The greenish, lime-flavored beverage hit its stride nationwide during prohibition, when a local Chicago brewery produced it to compensate for a falloff in beer sales. By 1992, the drink’s market was reduced to the Seattle area. In 2000, Clover Club bought the brand and is expanding it nationwide from a factory at 356 N. Kilbourn Ave.

Filbert's

Known best for its namesake root beer, Filbert’s also produces 17 flavors of soda. The company started at the turn of the century when George Filbert and family delivered milk, ice and coal to homes in the Bridgeport neighborhood by horse-drawn wagon. The family added root beer when it became popular during Prohibition. It was manufactured in half barrels and supplied mostly to taverns across five nearby states.

Still a family business, Filbert’s is run by Ronald Filbert and his wife Karen at 3430 S. Ashland Ave. Goose Island Founded in 1988, Goose Island produces craft beers, root beers and sodas from a brewery and bottling plant at 1800 W. Fulton Ave. Led by its most popular brand, Honkers Ale, tp states

Green Planet Beverage Co.

Launched in 2009, Green Planet Beverage Co. sells water packaged in a unique bottle that is made from a completely renewable resource: the resin of plants. It is carbon neutral and chemical free. It does not leach chemicals into its contents or the environment and is fully compostable and recyclable. Green Planet is a market leader in its category, with the first environmental brand that is 100 percent plant-based reducing dependency on oil and providing a safe, environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional PET bottles Green Planet is focusing on the institutional market, such as school districts, hotel and entertainment venues, and corporate campuses via food service and beverage distributors.

Hinckley and Schmitt

Founded by Otis Hinckley and George J. Schmitt at a time when most Chicago residents were drinking untreated Lake Michigan water, Hinckley & Schmitt has long served Chicago consumers with purified beverages. The two expanded their business by distributing varieties of spring and distilled waters and beverages and pioneering the development of water cooler service to offices. Today, more than 110 years later, Hinckley & Schmitt is headquartered at 6055 S. Harlem Ave. and its name is recognized throughout America’s heartland.

Intelligentsia Coffee
Intelligentsia roasts, blends, and packages more than one million pounds of coffee per year at 1850 W. Fulton St. Founded in 1995, the company also packages tea for resale by specialty stores and other vendors. The company prides itself on its green raw materials and roasting processes.

McCain Citrus

McCain Citrus was formed in 1985 with McCain Foods’ purchase of a juice processing plant at 1821 S. Kilbourn Ave. The plant produces juices and concentrates, including the popular Boku Coolers, for sales across the country.

Pepsi-Cola Americas

The Chicago Division of Pepsi-Cola employs about 400 people at a production plant at 650 W. 51st St. and a distribution facility at 1400 W. 35th St. Products are shipped to 12 states, Poland, Russia and Belarus. The division accounts for about a quarter of the Pepsi’s domestic volume with brands like Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Caffeine Free Pepsi, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi, Wild Cherry Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Diet Dew, Slice, Mug Root Beer, Sunny Delight, Hawaiian Punch, Seagram’s, All-Sport and Aquafina.

Royal Crown

Royal Crown operates a bottling facility for its RC and Diet Rite brands at 2801 W. 47th St. The company started in Ohio in 1905 when Claud A. Hatcher began creating his own soft drinks in the basement of his family’s wholesale grocery business. Originally called the Union Bottling Works, Royal Crown eventually grew to be the third largest soft drink company in the U.S. and the first to introduce soft drinks nationally in cans and 16-ounce bottles. It is owned by Chicago-based Quaker Oats Co.

Stewarts Private Blend

Stewarts Private Blend, 4110 W. Wrightwood Ave., started in 1913 when William A. Stewart, a world traveler and former General Motors executive, responded to a request by local restaurateurs to develop gourmet coffee and tea to serve discriminating drinkers. Stewart created Stewart’s Private Blend. As the coffee emerged as one of the best in Chicago, it was named "Official Coffee" at the city’s 1933 World’s Fair. The honor helped the company become a household name. Today it’s operated by third-generation family members.

Building Supplies

Decorators Supply

Decorators Supply, an ornamental plaster manufacturer, dates to the late 1800s, when the needs of the classically-designed World’s Columbian Exposition fueled its early growth. Today, it caters to a primarily residential market with more than 10,000 designs for moldings, ceiling medallions, fireplace mantles, niche shells and other products. The family-owned company is based at 3610 S. Morgan St.

Engineered Glass Products

Founded in 1947, Engineered Glass Products, 2857 S. Halsted St., was among the first manufacturers to produce protective gray glass shields for television tubes. Today the company is a leading manufacturer of heat reflective coated glass products. It also develops new technologies for manufacturing and utilizing specialty glass products, and provides design, engineering and consulting services.

Gilasi

Gilasi, 2021 W. Fulton St., manufactures countertops, surfaces, tiles and more from recycled waste glass. Gilasi’s unique manufacturing process combines locally sourced, green materials with high-end style.

Greenmaker

Greenmaker, 2500 N. Pulaski Road, is a one-stop shop for energy intelligent and environmentally sensitive building materials. It is a wholesale and retail supplier serving homeowners and the building and design community with products involving electrical and flooring, garden supples, adhesives and sealants, windows, kitchen and baths, and plumbing. The company produces kitchen and bath cabinetry from recycled amterials at its Northwest Side facility.

Metraflex

Metraflex, 2323 W. Hubbard St., has supplied piping specialty products to the commercial HVAC industry since 1958. Its engineered pipe systems compensate for noise, vibration, movement and pipingalignment issues.

Midwest Screw Products

Midwest Screw Products is a small, Chicago-based manufacturer of screw machined product and turned parts. Capabilities include machining, CNC programming and lathe, and engineering for industries including aerospace, automotive, medical, agriculture, meat packing and computer components.

Serious Materials

In 2009, Serious Materials, Inc. announced that the Company acquired the manufacturing plant in Chicago formerly of Republic Windows and Doors, which declared bankruptcy in December 2008. Serious Materials has been retooling the factory to be able to manufacture super-insulating high R-value windows and glass for both residential and commercial buildings.

The Company continues to hire back union employees to work in the factory, shifting the positions from blue to green collar jobs in manufacturing of its energy-efficient SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass products. Serious Materials has won numerous accolades for its commitment to the environment, which makes it the perfect partner with the City of Chicago’s environmental goals and initiatives.

Watersaver Faucet Co.

Founded in 1899, Watersaver Facucet, 701 W. Erie St., produces a variety of brass and stainless steel faucet assemblies for use in laboratories and other industrial applications. Innovations include chemical resistant finishes, pressure regulators, emergency eye-wash and shower assemblies, and miscellaneous valve assemblies.

Clothing/Equipment

Chicago Knitting Mills

Chicago Knitting, 3344 W. Montrose Ave., produces school sweaters, embroidered garments, sports apparel, jackets and other custom textiles.

Horween Leather

From its tannery at 2015 N. Elston Ave., Horween tans and finishes leather in an extensive selection of colors, weights, tempers and finishes. The fourth-generation family-owned company produces 10,000 sides, 2,000 single horsefronts, and 1,200 single cordovan butts every day. Its founder, Isadore Horween, said, “the price goes on last, and if we can’t sell it for what it’s worth, we shouldn’t make that leather.”

Kunz Glove

Leather protectors and gloves manufactured by Kunz Glove are used for a variety of work-related applications across the U.S. The company, established at the turn of the 20th Century, is headquartered in Chicago’s federal Empowerment Zone at 339 N. Oakley Blvd.

Magid Glove and Safety

Magid Glove & Safety, 2060 N. Kolmar Ave., is a leading manufacturer, distributor and importer of hand protection and safety products. A valued source to thousands of companies, Magid has been making gloves and safety products since 1946.

Optimo

One of the last traditional hat shops in the country, Optimo hats are handmade by world class professionals using the traditional methods of a dying art. The shop, founded by Thomas Graham, is located at 10215 S. Western Ave.

Oxxford Clothes

Oxxford Clothes has produced fine tailored clothing since 1916. Located in a loft building at 1220 W. Van Buren St., the company employs more than 400 master-tailors and seamstresses who produce handcrafted clothing items one at a time. The company is committed to quality with each of its craftspeople typically spending three years as an apprentice. Every suit that’s cut and sewn at Oxxford is made to an order by an Oxxford dealer to meet the needs of a specific customer, making Oxxford Clothes the largest custom tailor in the world.

Randa Leather Goods

Humphrey’s, 2009 W. Hastings Ave., is the largest domestic manufacturer and distributor of men’s and boy’s belts, and a leading supplier of small leather goods such as wallets, key holders, and credit and business card cases. The 85-year-old company markets its products under private labels for major retailers such as JC Penney, Sears, Mervyn’s, Kohl’s, and Eddie Bauer.

The company also distributes apparel accessories such as suspenders, caps, gloves, costume jewelry, neckwear and backpacks. Humphreys has received 29 supplier awards since 1989, including JC Penney’s Supplier of the Year award, the Sears Partners in Progress award, and the Apparel Industry Foundation Manufacturer of the Year Award.

Swiss Craft Embroidery

Founded in 1914 as a manufacturer of custom-embroidered emblems, Swiss Craft also distributes embroidered and silkscreen promotional apparel and makes soft goods and school uniforms. Manufacturing operations are based at 1945 S. Halsted St.

Uniforms To You

Uniforms To You is one of Illinois’ largest manufacturer and supplier of corporate apparel for the hospitality, transportation, gaming and food service industries. Founded in 1963, the company maintains a 500-person manufacturing facility at 5600 W. 73rd St.

Unionline

A clothing manufacturer since 1907, Unionline specializes in fire-retardant protective clothing, uniforms and custom garments. All products, including its Graybear premium fleece line, are union made at 2241 S. Halsted St.

Universal Overall

Universal Overall, 1060 W. Van Buren St., has manufactured quality work clothes in Chicago since 1924. The family-owned company offers a broad product line including shopcoats, aprons, coveralls, lab and freezer coats, boiler suits, butcher frocks, and bibs. It ships and processes most orders within 24 hours of receipt.

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