If you’ve still got a few names to cross off your holiday gift list, you’re not alone. There’s still plenty of time to find handmade gifts that do good for artists and artisans not only in Chicago but also in countries all over the world.
Shopping
Resale is a multi-billion dollar industry and shopping secondhand is growing in popularity as an affordable and eco-friendly way for young fashionistas to carve out a style niche for themselves. Two shops in Logan Square are hoping they can capitalize on that trend.
Multiple in-store thefts have been reported recently on the Magnificent Mile amounting to millions of dollars in stolen merchandise. But retailers say it’s not just about lost revenue — it’s about safety — and they’re calling for city officials to put more protections in place for businesses.
The Mestiza Shop on 18th Street offers wares made by local artists as well as imported goods. The items range from the traditional to the quirky – but all with a distinctively Latina accent.
Consumers are expected to spend between $10.2 billion and $11.3 billion on Monday, making it once again the biggest online shopping day of the year, according to Adobe Digital Economy Index.
Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day, making permanent a shift to the unofficial start of the holiday season that was suspended during the pandemic.
Illinois tax revenues plummeted when COVID-19 hit, but according to the Illinois Department of Revenue, they’re rising again.
Small-business owners in Illinois are experiencing an unprecedented demand in supplies and goods, but inventory is limited at stores due to supply chain issues nationwide.
As the holiday shopping season approaches, several economists are warning consumers about higher prices and delays for shipments due to a shortage in everything from microchips to coffee to the supply containers for transporting goods.
Come fall, Sears will shut the doors on its last department store in Illinois, the state in which its first retail store opened in 1925. The Sears department store in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg will close on Nov. 14.
Most shipping containers are packed with consumer goods, but the brightly painted shipping containers in Boxville at the corner of 51st Street and Calumet Avenue are packed full of small businesses with big ambitions.
The e-commerce giant recently began installing lockers inside Chicago parks, and says the lockers are a “secure and convenient” option. But that so-called convenience has proven controversial.
Amazon Prime members who shop at Whole Foods in select cities, including Chicago, will soon see a new charge on their bills. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer takes us behind the headline of that story and more.
After a challenging year, Chicago’s street markets are adapting to new health and safety standards, and showing signs of recovery.
The Biden economy faces the unusual challenge of possibly being too strong for its own good. There is the paradox of the fastest growth in generations at more than 6% yet also persistent delays for anyone trying to buy furniture, autos and a wide mix of other goods.
The forces of gentrification can make people being priced out of their neighborhoods feel powerless. But the founders of Lolita’s Bodega in Humboldt Park say residents have more power than they think.
