A Small Chicago Hardware Store Just Became a Hallmark Movie Set — And the Owner Can’t Stop Smiling

A beloved neighborhood hardware store on Chicago’s Far North Side got an unexpected taste of Hollywood this week — and the experience has already brought the entire community out to celebrate.

Andersonville Hardware Store on Clark Street was selected as a filming location for Hallmark Channel‘s upcoming Chicago Bears-themed holiday movie, Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story, which began production across the city earlier this week. The store’s owner, Vladan Guzina, told NBC Chicago that a location manager had simply walked through his door about a month prior, looked around, and loved what he saw — and before long, the cameras had arrived.

From Hardware Store to Holiday Movie Set

The transformation happened over the weekend before filming began on Monday. Production crews moved through the store installing full holiday decorations in the Bears’ signature deep navy blue and orange, while fake snow was placed on the sidewalk across the street so it would be visible through the windows during interior shots. By the time the cameras rolled, the entire block had taken on a distinctly cinematic quality — complete with background actors walking up and down Clark Street in full winter coats on what was, by all other measures, a completely normal summer day.

For Guzina, being on set for the entire day alongside his family made the experience even more memorable. He described watching everything unfold behind the cameras as genuinely exciting — a side of the industry that most small business owners never get to see up close.

A Neighborhood Moment

Beyond the personal thrill of it, Guzina said the filming has already had a tangible effect on his store’s visibility in the neighborhood. Locals who spotted the activity on Monday have been coming in ever since, curious about what was happening and discovering the store in the process. For a small independent business on a busy city street, that kind of organic attention is genuinely meaningful.

Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story is part of Hallmark’s ongoing tradition of sports-themed holiday films and is filming across multiple Chicago locations, including Soldier Field. The movie is scheduled to premiere later this year on the Hallmark Channel.