Arizona Tribune - Chicago Entrepreneur Gives Family Business a New Life at the Airport

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS / ACCESS Newswire / August 12, 2025 / Lendistry announces today that it was proud to help LS41 Cafe, Inc., a locally-owned business with deep roots in the southside of Chicago, expand its footprint to O'Hare International Airport.

Thirty-three years ago, when the U.S. Steel mill closed and the neighborhood entered an economic decline, Jorge Perez's family bakery was collateral damage. Committed to "staying in place", Jorge bought the building from his parents and promised to someday reopen. He then spent twenty years working with development organizations and was appointed Deputy Commissioner for Chicago's Department of Aviation in 2008.

Perez learned that airport concessions were key to bringing back his family's legacy. In 2021, LS41 entered into a joint venture with HMS Host to open multiple locations at O'Hare's Terminal 5, including Publican Quality Bread, and Butcher & the Burger. In response to demand from United travelers for coffee in Terminal 1, the joint venture recently added a Starbucks there. Revenue from these locations also fuels Chico's Oven, the bakery Perez reopened in his parents' original location, and which uses his father's recipes in addition to new offerings.

Airport concessions are unique and complex business models, Perez says, "Even though we're in a designated Opportunity Zone, no bank would touch us. None understood the airport business or wanted to learn. I met Everett and Rutger at Lendistry, and we spoke the same language from the start." Lendistry worked with Perez to provide $817,000 through its Airport Concessions Financing Program, which helped open the airport locations and support future goals.

"It pays to stay in place and be patient," says Perez, who has lived and worked in his home neighborhood through its decline, and is now seeing it come back with the new Illinois Quantum Microelectronics Park being developed on the old mill property, three blocks from the bakery. "Most people left when the mill closed, but the people who stayed appreciate that we stayed and reopened." That familiarity, according to Perez, is essential to thriving communities.

About Lendistry
Lendistry (lendistry.com) is a tech-enabled small business lender, grant administrator for private and public agencies, and a trusted resource for undercapitalized entrepreneurs including people of color, veterans, and those in rural communities. Founded in 2015, Lendistry has used technology and community partnerships to deploy over $10 billion in its first ten years. Lendistry was recently named the winner of the LA Area Chamber of Commerce Corporate Leadership Award, BankRate's Best Minority-Led Business Lender, and one of American Banker's Best Places to Work in Fintech. Lendistry has both Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Entity (CDE) certifications, is an SBA Preferred Lender and is now the #2 non-bank SBA 7(a) lender in the country. In collaboration with The Center by Lendistry, a nonprofit business education organization, Lendistry helps business owners achieve their goals and prepare to scale.

SOURCE: Lendistry

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H.Romero--AT