Refers to a place or distance that is close by. Often used in set phrases like 近間の店 (a nearby shop).
I did my shopping at a nearby convenience store.
He lives nearby, so he commutes on foot.
Compound of 近 (chika, 'near') and 間 (ma, 'space' or 'interval'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used since at least the Edo period to mean 'nearby place'.