{"id":105530,"date":"2025-05-29T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=105530"},"modified":"2026-01-01T16:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:05:08","slug":"4-months-after-founders-death-foursided-continues-to-thrive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/4-months-after-founders-death-foursided-continues-to-thrive\/","title":{"rendered":"4 months after founder\u2019s death, Foursided continues to thrive"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kaitlyn Luckoff
\n<\/b>Medill Reports<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

A bright arrangement of pastel mugs, candles, trinkets and decorative flowers creates a springtime garden in the window of one of Foursided\u2019s Lakeview stores. Three miles north, customers are greeted by smiling produce painted above the door of Foursided\u2019s Andersonville location.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foursided is celebrating, regardless of the season. The business has two gift shops in Lakeview, one in Andersonville and a framing location in each neighborhood. All five of these establishments are in historical buildings \u2013 and allow new customers and regular shoppers to admire their changing seasonal window displays.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeautifully framed art is where we began, and then it branched out into really kitschy and cute and collectible vintage,\u201d said Howl Stephens, marketing and design coordinator at Foursided. \u201cIn many ways, we’re kind of like a one-stop shop for gifting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Foursided began as a framing business in 2002\u2013 with six employees and an original investment of $25,000. The funding came from the late founder, Todd <\/span>\u201cMack\u201d MacGillivray, who<\/span> previously owned a framing business in Lansing, Michigan. Alongside his partner, Gino Pinto, the business has steadily expanded on Chicago\u2019s North Side. Pinto said the original framing store also had gifts, but it quickly outgrew the space and they opened a separate gift shop in 2003.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe liked the idea of keeping the framing together, with the gifts, but you need a glitter-free workspace for framing, and the gift shops are not glitter-free,\u201d Pinto said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite selling mostly small products, Stephens said the minor transactions accumulate and help the business reach its profit goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve had rising costs,\u201d Pinto said. \u201cBut our prices are increasing too, based on our vendors and the cost of skilled labor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

President Donald Trump recently imposed a 10% tariff on imports from all countries. Stephens said they don\u2019t expect this to be a challenge for Foursided because most of their vendors are based in the U.S.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foursided\u2019s revenue growth has been around 12% annually for the past 20 years, according to Pinto. Stephens added the revenue goal for 2025 is a 15% increase \u2013 and said the store is on track to reach that target. Pinto said the business\u2019s annual revenue is between $3 million and $6 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our philosophies as a business is the small is all,\u201d Stephens said. \u201cA lot of what we sell are these tiny little moments of joy that people pick up on a whim.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Across all stores, Foursided has just fewer than 40 employees. One of the highlights of expanding to more locations, Pinto said, has been providing opportunities for internal growth and staff promotions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All Foursided gift shops offer a unique range of products, but every store is slightly different as each has its own product buyer, Stephens said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elise Grinkemeyer, a sales associate at the Andersonville gift shop, said each of the different stores matches its respective neighborhood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a little bit more mature, more eccentric,\u201d Grinkemeyer said about the Andersonville location. \u201cEverybody out here loves their pets, loves having a nice drink or brunch. We try to cater to that stuff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sarah Zidell frequently shops at the Lakeview store on Clark Street, and said they always have great Christmas decorations, especially ornaments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like their products are so unique compared to any other gifty boutique,\u201d Zidell said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Real estate agent Kati Catalogna discovered Foursided when she first moved to Lincoln Park seven years ago and said it\u2019s been her \u201cgo-to\u201d ever since.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As someone who is frequently buying gifts for clients and friends, Catalogna said it\u2019s easy to get carried away in the store. Her favorite shopping season is around Valentine\u2019s Day because of the pink and red displays.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a bunch of different little things that I could get and curate a good gift that feels a little bit more thoughtful and personalized than just going and getting somebody a candle,\u201d Catalogna said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foursided continues to thrive despite MacGillivray\u2019s death in January.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Pinto said he\u2019s more focused right now on honoring his husband and business partner\u2019s legacy, Foursided is poised for more growth in the future. Pinto said the Foursided team is concentrating on the creative aspect of MacGillivray\u2019s legacy by trying to create more of their own products.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is maybe a point in the future, I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s in the next five years, maybe the next <\/span>10, where we could be in some other communities around the country,\u201d Pinto said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Luckoff is a graduate student at Medill specializing in magazine reporting. You can connect with her on\u00a0<\/i>Linkedin<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kaitlyn Luckoff Medill Reports A bright arrangement of pastel mugs, candles, trinkets and decorative flowers creates a springtime garden in the window of one of Foursided\u2019s Lakeview stores. Three miles north, customers are greeted by smiling produce painted above the door of Foursided\u2019s Andersonville location. Foursided is celebrating, regardless of the season. The business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":996,"featured_media":105531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,5251,5542,5493],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-chicago","category-msj25","category-spring-2025"],"yoast_head":"\n4 months after founder\u2019s death, Foursided continues to thrive - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/4-months-after-founders-death-foursided-continues-to-thrive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 months after founder\u2019s death, Foursided continues to thrive - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Kaitlyn Luckoff Medill Reports A bright arrangement of pastel mugs, candles, trinkets and decorative flowers creates a springtime garden in the window of one of Foursided\u2019s Lakeview stores. 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