Four other stores in Chicago – in Bucktown, Hyde Park, Logan Square, and downtown – are currently voting by mail on whether to unionize, with results expected in June. It’s part of a nationwide effort to organize Starbucks coffee shops that’s rapidly gained steam in the last year. 

The $1.73 billion proposal now heads to the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built along the Chicago River near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.

Chicago-area retail stores hit record-high sales, but that's not without impacting online buying as Amazon looks to sublet warehouse space. Meanwhile, legal limbo over nearly 200 pot shop licenses could soon come to an end.

Sturdy plastic snap-on can carriers are labeled as 100% recyclable. Which is true, just not when it comes to the single-stream recycling programs favored by cities like Chicago.

The S&P 500 rose 1.9%, with technology and financial sector stocks doing much of the heavy lifting for the benchmark index. The Dow Industrial Average rose 2% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.6%.

The Chicago City Council is expected to give its final stamp of approval to the Bally’s plan on Wednesday, sending the proposal to the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.

Even though Lightfoot stacked a special City Council committee with her allies to consider the casino proposal, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward) acknowledged Friday that the mayor did not have enough support to advance the plan to build a casino and resort.

The 100-year-old bakery closed at the end of April. Fans looking to own a piece of Chicago history can bid on the sign at auction June 3, with proceeds earmarked for charity.

La Casita de Don Pedro is one of many parts of Humboldt Park that reminds people of the neighborhood’s deep Puerto Rican roots. Maintaining that culture is something advocates have been focused on.

The Chicago burger giant said its existing licensee Alexander Govor, who operates 25 restaurants in Siberia, has agreed to buy McDonald’s 850 Russian restaurants and operate them under a new name. McDonald’s did not disclose the terms of the sale.

Construction of Carvana’s controversial 14-story car vending tower in Skokie, approved just three months ago by the Village Board of Trustees despite widespread community opposition, is now on hold due to the temporary suspension of Carvana’s dealer’s license in Illinois.

McDonald’s is “de-arching” in Russia and leaving the country after more than 30 years; as the baby formula crisis deepens, a local congressman is putting pressure on Abbott Labs; and Boeing leadership faces criticism from an Ireland-based airline.

The value of commercial properties increased 56% from 2018 to 2021, compared with 10% for single-family homes and small apartment buildings, according to the data released by the Cook County assessor’s office. That could result in a consequential change in how Cook County’s property tax burden is carved up. 

The Chicago Reader, the city’s famed alt-weekly, is expected to become a nonprofit this month after the sale was nearly derailed over a co-owner’s column opposing COVID-19 vaccine requirements for children. Critics including former and current Reader staff blasted his take, arguing that Goodman relied on sources repeatedly fact-checked by media and infectious-disease experts.

While many companies struggled during the pandemic, Chicago French Press saw sales skyrocket. The coffee brand can now be found on Amazon and in several stores, including Chicago-area Targets, which started selling the products in February. 

City Council members and residents are scrambling to figure out more about plans to move a giant temporary Chicago casino into the historic Medinah Temple. It's located in the heart of the fashionable River North neighborhood - home to tourism, commerce and lots of residential units.