Iconic Sports Shop Moves From Niles To MG

Tomorrow, a treasure trove of memorabilia for sports fans, AU Sports, is departing Niles. The iconic shop will move into Magazine Memories' former longtime quarters at 6006 Dempster St. in Morton Grove.

AU Sports majority owner Scott Beatty settled on the Morton Grove site a few weeks ago. The space itself is next to the empty storefront vacated during the winter by Magical Mystery Tour, a 35-year Morton Grove business stalwart.

Beatty signed what he termed a “short” lease – three years –to set up shop in a small retail center anchored by El Sol Restaurant and Rayan Supermarket. 

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AU Sports will have 3,500 square feet in Morton Grove, allowing Beatty to display vintage publications that had been kept in storage.

The old Magical Mystery Tour space “did not fit our needs,” he said, adding he’s not worried about the vacant storefront next door. “People come to us as a destination location,” he said.

Beatty assumed majority ownership of AU Sports in the spring of 2011, after the death of longtime operator Steve Gold. Gold’s mother, Audre, founded the store in 1980. Gold’s widow, Mary Ellen, still has an ownership
interest.  The store’s name, “AU,” drew from Audre’s name and the scientific symbol for “Gold.”

The move to the old Magazine Memories store has interesting connections. Both shops specialize in rare old memorabilia. Magazine Memories moved out in Aug. 2009 after 20 years in Morton Grove, with owner Bob Katzman now operating as the Magazine Museum in downtown Skokie.

Old-neighborhood connections with Magazine Museum

“Eddie Gold (a longtime Chicago Sun-Times sports staffer and Audre’s husband) and my father, Irving, were friends on the West Side,” Katzman said. “I wish them nothing but good things. They used to buy stuff from me.”

AU Sports gained notoriety in its old cramped storefront at 5127 Dempster Street in Skokie. Patrons had to learn to park in the alley in back with no street spaces in front. Audre, Eddie and then Steve Gold ran the store as the ultimate mom-and-pop operation. Baseball cards, vintage publications and photos crammed every nook and cranny. Interior decorating took a back seat to the display and sale of sports history.

The Golds had little problem attracting big-name autograph signers, past and present. One of the more unique signers was Marla Collins, who came into the shop about seven years ago. The Playmate was a former Cubs ball girl. Collins was fired in 1986 for posing in Playboy Magazine. When she appeared at AU Sports, several autograph seekers brought their vintage copies of Playboy for Collins to sign.

Owner found better rent values in Morton Grove than Skokie

Beatty, who lives on Chicago's North Side, operated the shop in 2,350 square feet in the Village Crossing Shopping Center in Niles for the last few years.

While considering sites in Evanston and Chicago, he also walked around downtown Skokie looking for a compatible site. He found none.

“They were all more expensive and smaller, and the parking wasn’t as good,” Beatty said. “I liked the [downtown] location, but the shops were either smaller than what we had now, or if they were bigger, they were twice as expensive.

“Everyone we’ve told who has walked in here has been very supportive of the move, and said this will be just as convenient for them," Beatty added. "It has a good visibility area with high traffic. There’s a neighborhood around it, which we don’t have here. In the long run, I think this will be better for us.”

Beatty credited John Said, Morton Grove’s director of economic development, for helping him zero in on available storefronts.

In addition to displaying magazines in the new store, Beatty hopes to one day have a sports-movie poster collection.

“AU Sports has always been cramped,” he said. “We hoping to spread out and make it a lot more organized with a lot more stuff for people to see.”

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