Since 1943, Kaage Newsstand in Edison Park has witnessed some of the biggest headlines over the course of eight decades. Now, it is making its own headline with news it will close on June 29.
It’s the end of an era for the third-generation family business near the Edison Park Metra station. Owner Mike Kaage, 68, plans to retire from running the newsstand that his grandfather — a former newspaper delivery driver — bought for $100 during World War II.
The 6-by-6-foot newsstand “has been my life since I was a little kid,” said Kaage, who was 5 when he started working there.
His father paid him 25 cents an hour to do odd jobs.
Closing the neighborhood landmark at 6700 N. Northwest Highway will be a bittersweet milestone for Kaage. He is looking forward to retiring and babysitting his two grandchildren. His wife Karen died in February, so he is shouldering child care for his daughter.
“My grandchildren are the most important thing in my life now,” he said. “It used to be my family’s newsstand. But I’m going to miss it. I am going to miss the people. That’s why I stayed.”
Kaage knows practically all of his customers by name. He knows what they will buy and has their papers ready when they drive up. He’ll be doing that every morning through June 29, from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays and 5 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on weekends.
After he locks up the newsstand for the last time, Kaage said he’ll head to the bar across the street with family, friends, community members and former employees — scores of local boys who are now older men — to pay tribute to Kaage Newsstand.
And then he’ll have a decision to make.
“Do I get home delivery?” Kaage said. “That’s always been a no-no for me.”
A newsstand time capsule
The newsstand has been a time capsule of major global and local events — some tragic, some triumphant — that sparked blockbuster newspaper sales.
In his working lifetime, Kaage recalled that the final issue of the Chicago Daily News in 1978 sold like hotcakes. In 2001, the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks was a momentous, somber day at the modest newsstand.
In 2016, after the Cubs won the World Series, Kaage sold a whopping 5,000 newspapers. He normally would sell 300 a day back then.
After the Cubs’ victory, though, “People were buying 10, 50, 500 copies,” Kaage said. “That was the coolest day.”
He remembers when the newsstand would be open daily from 4 a.m. until 9 p.m. — back when more people were reading newspapers, and papers had evening editions.
Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, he stayed open even though the streets were eerily quiet.
“That’s when sales were cut in half right away,” Kaage said.
He started closing at 9 a.m. instead of noon because he had far fewer customers.
When Arlington International Racecourse was still open, the newsstand did brisk business selling racing forms, scratch sheets, tip sheets and programs.
“It was such a money market,” Kaage said.
The Fourth of July traditionally was the busiest race day. During peak times, the newsstand would sell 200 racing forms in a day for 50 cents each, while newspapers cost a dime. The racetrack closed in 2021.
When Kaage was around 8 years old, he started stuffing Sunday papers with the extra sections that started coming out on Thursday.
“They were so huge back then,” Kaage said.
His hands would be covered with black ink. Stacks of Sunday papers towered over him. One time, they toppled in an avalanche on him.
“I can’t tell you how many millions of newspapers I’ve stuffed over the years,” he said.
In its heyday, before the advent of the internet, the newsstand used to sell 2,000 Sunday newspapers. By 2000, Kaage could see the writing on the wall as news moved online.
“Year after year, sales were less and less,” he said. “I blame it on PCs, then laptops, now phones.”
Today, the newsstand sells about 100 Sunday papers.
“This generation doesn’t care about news,” Kaage said. “They want sports or gambling sites. The business has changed dramatically. But I stuck it out because I loved it.”
Family community legacy
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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Kaage’s grandfather Irvin Kaage was a delivery driver for the old Chicago Daily News. The newsstand, two blocks from his home, was one of his stops. The day after he bought it, Irvin Kaage sent his son — Mike Kaage’s father — to work there on March 8, a bitterly cold day.
In the early 1990s, Mike Kaage took over the newsstand from his father.
“My dad was awesome,” he said. “If something needed to be done, he got it done. He had such a great reputation. He has tough shoes to fill. I hope I’ve done him proud.”
The Kaage family has long been an Edison Park mainstay.
In 2020, Mike Kaage’s mother Muriel Kaage and father Irvin Kaage Jr., both in their 90s, died within 36 hours of each other after contracting COVID-19 at their assisted-living facility. They were separated and unable to have their families visit as they were quarantined.
But just before Irvin Kaage Jr.’s death, their beds were together so they could hold hands one last time.
On March 8, the 82nd anniversary of its opening, the Edison Park Chamber of Commerce honored the business with an award.
“For generations, Kaage’s Newsstand has been more than just a place to pick up a paper — it’s been a cornerstone of our neighborhood, a familiar face on the corner and a daily part of life for so many,” said Amanda Harres, the business group’s executive director.
Paying tribute to Kaage, Katie Lenihan, a customer, posted on Facebook: “End of an era!! Mike was always the best! Growing up in Edison Park we frequented the stand weekly and he would always call you by name and ask how the family was since he saw us all. The friendliest business.”
Kaage said he’s looking forward to having more time to babysit his grandchildren.
“They bring me so much joy,” he said.
He also wants to travel. He didn’t have time to do that while running the newsstand. Las Vegas and the Cheers bar in Boston are on his bucket list.
“I’m just a plain guy,” Kaage said. “I never wanted any kudos.”
But that the newsstand has survived for so long is “one hell of an accomplishment for my family,” he said.
“I have so many wonderful memories,” he said. “The people, the business, the community, my life. That’s why I’m the richest man in town. I am so blessed.
“The only thing I can take with me are my memories. Hopefully, I will have more.”
