{"id":70225,"date":"2025-07-21T14:41:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=70225"},"modified":"2025-07-21T14:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:41:07","slug":"longtime-chicago-frame-shop-helendora-samuels-picture-framing-moves-to-west-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=70225","title":{"rendered":"Longtime Chicago Frame Shop Helendora Samuels Picture Framing Moves To West Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST TOWN \u2014 A frame shop whose clients have included the Chicago Bulls and White Sox \u2014 who recently commissioned a Pope Leo XIV jersey \u2014 is relocating from Wicker Park to West Town.<\/p>\n

Helendora Samuels Picture Framing opened last week at 1851 W. Chicago Ave. after operating for more than a decade at 1736 W. North Ave. in Wicker Park. The Wicker Park location will remain open for the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest chapter in a 50-year framing career for owner Tommy Samuels, a lifelong Chicagoan who learned the trade as a teenager from his brother and father and has been at it ever since.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Samuels married Helendora Samuels and subsequently named his shop after his wife, who works with him on orders.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the Samuelses have framed thousands \u2014 if not tens of thousands \u2014 of paintings, posters and prints, as well as more difficult assignments like dartboards, suit jackets, tablecloths and Michael Jordan\u2019s baseball uniform for his former home in Highland Park.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a level of service and dedication the shop plans to continue providing on Chicago Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s our slogan: \u2018You name it, we frame it.\u2019 Period,\u201d said Helendora Samuels. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s one job that comes through the door that\u2019s not challenging \u2026 but we work for perfection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Tommy and Helendora Samuels learned their landlord would be selling their Wicker Park building, and the two decided to find a new location. The West Town storefront is smaller than the Wicker Park one, but the couple is optimistic foot traffic will be high and dedicated customers will keep coming back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love people. And it\u2019s been a blessing to be able to still make a living,\u201d Tommy Samuels said last week as he and his wife finished setting up the new shop.<\/p>\n

\"Longtime
Helendora Samuels Picture Framing recently framed a \u201cPope Leo\u201d jersey for the White Sox. Credit: Provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tommy and Helendora Samuels grew up on the West Side, although Tommy Samuels moved to Roseland on the South Side with his family when he was a kid.<\/p>\n

Tommy Samuels learned the framing business after his father and older brother \u2014 Wiley Samuels Sr. and Wiley Samuels Jr. \u2014 got into it while he was young. The family opened a shop in River North on Superior Street where Tommy Samuels worked, although he wasn\u2019t too interested in it at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got out of school, I had one hour to get to the frame shop. So I couldn\u2019t go hang out with my buddies,\u201d Tommy Samuels said. \u201cI had to get to the frame shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slowly, Samuels learned the craft and took a liking to cutting wood and constructing frames. He built a reputation for quality and, over the years, owned at least half a dozen shops across the city, many of them in River North and the Near West Side, he said.<\/p>\n

Samuels also started picking up high-profile clients like Michael Jordan and the White Sox, as well as hotels, colleges and other businesses.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Longtime
Loyola University Chicago jerseys recently framed by Helendora Samuels Picture Framing. Credit: Provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

At 65, Tommy Samuels is entering his 50th year of framing other people\u2019s art and beloved possessions. Even with his steady hand and eye for detail, it\u2019s a responsibility he doesn\u2019t take for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with artwork, it\u2019s personal,\u201d he said. \u201cYou get one crack at people\u2019s art, and if you screw it up, man, people will kill you about their art. Every time a frame job comes in, to me it\u2019s almost like going to the hospital to get operated on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helendora Samuels said she\u2019s felt the same way since she starting learning the framing business from Tommy after working in a hair salon for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the customers. I love designing and helping them pick the colors or whatever,\u201d Helendora Samuels said. \u201cIf something don\u2019t look right, I\u2019ll be honest, because I want people to know that when they come here, it\u2019s personal for not just them, but for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple are also actively involved in a church they run called The Righteous Way of Living Ministries, through which they regularly host collection drives for local kids around Christmas and Easter.<\/p>\n

Those will continue as the frame store reopens in West Town. Helendora Samuels said she\u2019s already starting to ask for backpack donations as kids prep to return to school this fall.<\/p>\n

\"Longtime
A framed table cloth and Grateful Dead poster completed by Helendora Samuels Picture Framing. Credit: Provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After bouncing around numerous locations, including a previous West Town shop on Grand Avenue, the Samuelses opened their Wicker Park store in 2014.<\/p>\n

Business was up and down, but they made lasting connections with neighbors and other regular customers. And after struggling early in the pandemic, the couple saw a major boost following a Block Club article that helped spread the word about the shop \u2014 and even sparked someone to start a GoFundMe.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Longtime
Tommy and Helendora Samuels at their frame shop in Wicker Park during an Easter basket collection drive. Credit: Quinn Myers\/Block Club Chicago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Samuelses plan to continue framing anything that comes through their door \u2014 whether it be a jacket worn by a stock trader, a needlepoint tablecloth or even a car\u2019s gas cover.<\/p>\n

The couple also recently got their own taste of Chicago pope-mania when the White Sox called to see if they could frame a jersey for Pope Leo XIV \u2014 whose fandom of the South Side club has been well documented.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly believe [our success] is because of a good reputation, good reviews and repeated customers. We got a lot of repeated customers, and they come back,\u201d Tommy Samuels said. \u201cLike everybody else, we have to pay bills, and you\u2019re waiting on your money sometimes, but [in] some kind of way, it seemed like we always wound up being able to pay the bills and survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helendora Samuels Picture Framing is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment Sundays.<\/p>\n

\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tommy and Helendora Samuels have framed paintings, posters and much more for thousands of Chicagoans and local companies over the years \u2014 including a recent Pope Leo jersey for the White Sox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":70233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nLongtime Chicago Frame Shop Helendora Samuels Picture Framing Moves To West Town - NEWS USA<\/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:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=70225\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Longtime Chicago Frame Shop Helendora Samuels Picture Framing Moves To West Town - 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