Office Depot has announced it's closing 112 stores nationwide, which includes 15 Chicago-area stores. One of the more high-profile closings is in the Southgate Market mall in the South Loop. The closings will leave approximately 300 area workers without jobs, but they can apply for open jobs at other stores or accept a severance package. more ›

Sorry, we're just not a fan of Whole Foods. It's one of those buzz phrases- "Starbucks", "Irish pub", and "Golden Tee" are others- that makes us break out in hives and forces us to crane our heads looking for ballcap-wearing graduates of Big Ten universities. Chicagoist is a frugal lot and has often asked itself whether we're paying for the products Whole Foods sells or the privilege of shopping at Whole Foods. Besides when we can buy fresh produce for a fraction of the cost at Stanley's, Cermak Produce, Egg Store on the South side, farmers markets, or any of the legion of mom-and-pop produce stores across the city, which gives us more money for beer. more ›

Back in May, Wal-Mart got zoning approval to build a store in the West Side nieghborhood Austin, but the retailing behemoth was also looking to build a second store in South Side Chatham. Yesterday, that the second deal began to unravel, when Wal-Mart realized that about $31.6 million in city subsidies would not be coming for the development in which the store would be located. more ›