The iconic former-bank-turned-former-Walgreens at 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park is one of the several new Barnes & Noble locations planned in the Chicago area. (WTTW News)

Barnes & Noble plans to open two stores in the city this year, in addition to other locations in suburban Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

At Vintage Frills, Jennifer Kelly says she’s always looking for the items from the 1990s and 2000s she says are on trend with millennials and Gen Z kids. (WTTW News)

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.

On the Magnificent Mile, Belmont-Cragin small business Colores Mexicanos offers handmade artisan items from states all across Mexico through the end of December. (WTTW News)

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.

At the height of the holiday season, retail stores in Chicago and across the country are experiencing a rash of thefts. (WTTW News)

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. (WTTW News)

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.

In this Nov. 29, 2010 file photo, a consumer looks at Cyber Monday sales on her computer at her home in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo / Paul Sakuma, File)

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.

A Target store is shown in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. (AP Photo / Matt Rourke)

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.

(JESHOOTScom / Pixabay)

Illinois tax revenues plummeted when COVID-19 hit, but according to the Illinois Department of Revenue, they’re rising again.

As the holiday season approaches, products overseas have been backlogged and prices for products have increased, causing those operating small businesses to scramble through their inventory. (WTTW News)

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.

From shortages of microchips to coffee: what’s driving the current supply chain disruptions? (WTTW News)

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.

(WTTW News)

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.

Boxville at 51st Street and Calumet Avenue in Chicago. (WTTW News)

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.

An Amazon locker at Leone Beach in Rogers Park. (WTTW News)

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. 

(Cytonn Photography / Unsplash)

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.

The Lincoln Square Farmers Market is one of Chicago’s many street markets that have had to adapt to new health safety protocols in response to COVID-19. (WTTW News)
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After a challenging year, Chicago’s street markets are adapting to new health and safety standards, and showing signs of recovery.

In this July 6, 2021, photo a sign is seen on a sold patio furniture floor model at Valley View Farms in Cockeysville, Md. (AP Photo / Julio Cortez)

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.