Ed Crabbe turns to the lounge chair blocking an aisle at Harvest, the resale shop he operates with his wife, Cathy, in Rogers Park. He carts the chair out to the sidewalk and positions it just so. Then he goes back into the store for more chairs, an end table, shelves, a lamp, and a coatrack. Soon he’s fashioned a fresh-air parlor on the pavement.
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Even with all that merchandise on the sidewalk, the shop is stuffed with rugs, books, religious paintings, mirrors, old cameras, and wing chairs. A long glass case contains jewelry, and there’s a bin with turn-of-the-century photographs selling for $2 apiece. Its sign reads, “Need relatives?”
The Crabbes also use Harvest as their personal space. Besides setting up his outdoor showroom, Ed paints furniture and abstract artworks. Sometimes he plays a brightly colored conga drum. He enjoys posting questions on the windows in water-soluble paint, promising a 10 percent discount to patrons who answer correctly. A recent puzzler asked: “Who said, ‘To alcohol–the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems?’” (Answer: Homer Simpson.)
They considered taking the space at Jarvis and Greenview, but Cathy was troubled by the location, which at night attracted drug sales and prostitution. Yet Ed liked the broad sidewalk in front and the chance to be more inventive. When the landlord lowered the rent, the Crabbes signed the lease.
