Cherry Tebyanian’s Andriana Furs store in Beverly survived the civil unrest that devolved into massive looting after the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
She managed to stay in business, even after an angry mob smashed windows and walked out with armloads of mink, fox and other valuable fur coats.
Now, the store at 2201 W. 95th St. that Tebyanian has poured her heart and soul into for decades could be forced to overcome an even bigger challenge: A Chicago ban on the sale of new fur products advanced by a City Council committee Tuesday in the name of fighting animal cruelty.
If the full Council approves the ordinance championed by Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), Chicago would climb aboard a fur-free bandwagon that already includes 16 U.S. cities and the state of California.
Tebyanian is determined to prevent that from happening. Her business depends on it.
“It’s devastating. … If it’s banned, we can’t operate anymore. It’s gonna be foreclosure. It would result in significant losses and economic hardship for us as well,” she said.
“It’s not fair to prevent us from running our business and serving our community. It’s not fair to just ban something that’s been running for almost 40 years,” Tebyanian added.
“We don’t kill animals here. Those are already dead animals. We’re just saving the skin. … We’re not harming anything. What’s harming is what they’re doing to us.”
A market continues for fur coats that get “passed on through generations” because there is nothing that keeps you quite as warm as fur in the brutal cold and sub-zero wind-chill factors of a Chicago winter, Tebyanian said.
Her devoted clientele helped the store survive the 2020 looting.
“They broke windows. They took out a lot of coats. We lost a lot. We survived it. We will survive this, too,” Tebyanian said.
About a mile and a half away, Gerard Brown has been selling and servicing fur coats at Island Furs, the store he owns at 1827 W. 103rd St. in Beverly, since he came out of design school 40 years ago. He considers it an art form.
“This ban will just destroy my entire business. I’ll have to shut my doors. … It’s what I love doing. It’s awful. This is all I’ve ever done my whole adult life,” Berry said.
“I don’t know how they can pass judgment on what I and my customers choose to do. If they choose not to wear fur, they should not wear ’em. … But they shouldn’t choose my livelihood. … What’s America coming to? Where is the freedom? If you want to eat meat, you can eat meat. If you want to wear leather pants or leather shoes, you can wear ’em. Are those products next? Where does it end?”
The ordinance advanced Tuesday would make it a crime to “sell, offer for sale, trade or otherwise distribute for monetary or non-monetary consideration a fur product in the city.”
Specifically exempted are used fur products and fur products used for religious or “traditional tribal, cultural or spiritual purposed by a member of a federally- or state-recognized Native American tribe.”
Lopez said he delayed the effective date for one year to give the city’s roughly half-dozen remaining furriers an opportunity to “make the transition.”
“They don’t have to go out of business. They have to evolve. There are plenty of fur alternative products that they can sell. They’re just steadfastly refusing to evolve into what we want to be sold in the city of Chicago,” Lopez said.
“I understand peoples’ frustrations. Change is hard. … But the inhumane treatment of animals is not acceptable in my opinion as well as the opinion of nearly 70% of America. As we see industry move away from live fur products to alternate furs and we see consumers move away from that live fur product, this is the evolution of that conversation.”
Black Caucus Chair Stephanie Coleman (16th) joined Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) and Felix Cardona (31st) in voting against the fur ban.
Coleman said her “no vote” has nothing to do with the “love of fur coats” that runs through “my entire family.”
“Especially now with the culture of so many businesses leaving our city, I don’t think that we, as a City Council, should punish those businesses that have committed to our city. They are in the business to sell a product that people do purchase,” Coleman said.
“When there is below-zero weather, historically among, not just the African American community, but those who have lived in Chicago — they wear mink coats. … There may be vegetarians, but people still eat meat. So should we close every steakhouse? Is that next?”
Past efforts to protect animals
Over the years, Council members determined to stop animal cruelty have used legislation to further their crusades.
Back when she was Chicago city clerk, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza pushed a crackdown on puppy mills. Now former Ald. Joe Moore (49th) convinced his colleagues to ban foie gras, a move roundly ridiculed and ultimately repealed.
Inspired by the 2005 death of three elephants at Lincoln Park Zoo, the late Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) made three attempts to push an elephant cruelty ordinance amid continued opposition from now-convicted Finance Committee Chair Edward Burke (14th).
A law firm run by a close friend and associate of Burke’s subsequently turned up as the attorney for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus.