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January 6, 2020

By Olivia Cunningham

The Goodie Shop sits right on the corner of 21st and Pulaski, just across the street from the Pink Line station in North Lawndale. In the lobby, a family of five leans over the glass counter as an employee explains their design request in detail. His long dreadlocks shift on his shoulders when he looks over quickly, gives a small nod and says he’ll be with you shortly.

You take in your surroundings. Bright red walls are covered in merchandise; large banners that read “Congrats to our Dad!” and “Little Diva”; T-shirts with inspiring quotations that range from “Unity” to “F*ck Donald Trump.”  A kid, bored as he waits for his family to make a decision, looks closely at the candy eye-level behind the glass counter.

Since February 2008, this family business, specializing in screen-printing, graphic design and marketing and promotional projects, has served the Greater Lawndale and West Side community. 

But long before the idea of the Goodie Shop even existed in the minds of Willie Porter and his wife Elise M. Porter, the seeds were planted at another business in the neighborhood.

“It started at McDonald’s,” Elise M. Porter says. “That’s how I met my husband. We worked at McDonald’s together. That’s how our world came together.”

The two had nearly 20 years of management and customer service experience when they found out a family friend’s T-shirt business was closing. Willie bought all the equipment. 

“My dad could be really spontaneous,” Will Porter, 27, says.

The Porters secured a location for their new business that was not too far from their home in East Garfield Park. Willie built the shop from the ground up, from the sewers beneath to the red paint on the walls.

Will was 14 and his sister Elise (same name as her mother) was 9 when the shop opened. The entire family quickly found out how steep the learning curve would be, when they got their first large T-shirt order: 20 T-shirts due to be picked up Monday morning. A friend was hosting a BBQ Sunday evening, so the family didn’t start on the request until 10 p.m. that night.

“Everything goes wrong. We ain’t got the answers. Can't call nobody ‘cause it's late. We got ink all over ourselves,” Will says. “We got home at 3 a.m. I’ll never forget.”

The kids were involved in the Goodie Shop from an early age. They learned their skills from an After School Matters program, the Youth Technology Entrepreneurship Center (Y-TEC), which included a bustling technology lab and hands-on projects.

“My dad always made sure we had to do something in the summertime. We wasn’t just gonna be enjoying the summer. He was keeping us productive,” Will says.

“Idle minds is the devil’s playground,” Elise remembers her father saying. Besides keeping them busy, Y-TEC gave the kids important skills that they’d quickly apply to their lives. “They taught us the basis of entrepreneurship… We [the students] started a clothing store. Then we started a snowball stand. Then we were able to transition those skills to here [the shop].”

The Porters’ business improved over the years and by 2010, T-shirt orders of 20 became a one-person job and orders of 100-plus shirts an undaunting request. While the early years brought mostly “R.I.P.” requests, the later years brought partnerships with schools, hospitals and other organizations.

Willie was especially active in his community, and while public speaking wasn’t always his strong suit—his daughter Elise says she was the unofficial spokesperson for the business—his interpersonal skills earned trust and respect.

“I think he could’ve been an alderman,” Will says. “His networking was crazy.”

Willie passed away on December 25, 2015. It was a hard time for the whole family, but Will admits he feels that he didn’t grieve appropriately. He knew it was his turn to step into his father’s role. 

“My mom was crying for days. My sister hurt for days. I didn't have any more tears after like the first day or two,” Will says. “It was more like, ‘You're the man now. You can't cry. You gotta be strong for them.”

He was just 24 when he took over the Goodie Shop, but Will says the combination of family and community support kept them moving.

“We all felt motivated to keep this thing alive. And a lot of people were behind us, who knew what my dad did, wanted to keep us alive. So it wasn’t hard to move on,” Will says.

It’s still a family enterprise. His grandmother Allivonne Harris works part time at the shop. His mother handles payroll, keeping the shop “pretty” and overall “running things.”

“If you get your customers that’s not pleased? I can put a fire out,” she says.

His mother says it’s been a blessing that they’ve been able to keep their doors open for 12 whole years. “Some of our counterparts down here—they’re not even here. There’s a store on 19th. They’ve changed over five times. They’ve been a restaurant, a store, a restaurant then another store,” she remembers. “Actually we did fliers for them. It’s just amazing that we are surviving and businesses are closing.”

About four years ago, the Porters opened a sister location further south, but it didn’t survive past the first year.

“We can potentially have more locations. We just know what mistakes not to make,” Will says. “You can’t go to one McDonald’s and it tastes like this and the next one tastes like this. It’s gotta taste the same. It’s quality control.”

The youngest Porter daughter, Montinae, now works at the shop part time while she finishes her senior year of high school. Their mother says she and Willie had done their best to expose all the kids to good programs, schools and activities over the years. She supports them in whatever direction they chose to go, but stressed they don’t have a reason to not succeed.

“All I want is my children to have a foundation,” she says. “They don’t have no reason not to survive. They all have skills and foundations. So I did my part. They ready for the world. Now, is the world ready for them?”

What does Black wealth mean to the Porters?

Will: Black wealth means having a solid foundation. We have something we built together that can generate money. Everybody can’t say that. This was my pop’s dream. He built it and it’s here now. It’s up to us to upkeep it. 

Elise M. Porter: We were closed two weeks at the beginning of 2017 and the customers came in like everything was okay. They expect us to be here. They dream for us to be here. We just gotta fulfill their dream. We too deep in. We gotta do it.

Elise: Black wealth is having a plan and fulfilling it and knowing that you can do it. That nothing is impossible. A lot of people get lost in the making. My dad didn’t go to college. My mom went to McDonald’s college. At the end of the day they had street knowledge. They were still able to open up a business that generates money.  So just having a plan and not falling off. Just being able to watch that, that made me want to be even more wealthy ‘cause... if he did this on his own, what can I do?

Elise M. Porter: And then you gotta make investments in yourself. You gotta put the money on the table and believe it and have faith. Nobody else is gonna put that money on the table for you.

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