Merz Apothecary, one of Lincoln Square's longest operating businesses, also had a store in Macy Fields for the past seven years. more ›

While the Cubs and their fans held their annual love-in last weekend, this past weekend the rest of us gathered at the Palmer House Hilton to celebrate and commiserate with fellow White Sox fans. Given the airing of grievances by fans and feats of strength by team management, it could very well have been renamed SoxFestivus. more ›

A week after their North Side counterparts held their annual convention, the White Sox will hold their SoxFest this upcoming weekend at the Palmer House Hilton. While Cubs fans were concerned about the future of the Cubs ownership and fate of Wrigley Field, at least when it came to the players on the field there was near unanimous optimism. more ›

It's hard to believe it's taken the universe this long to combine parades, insane traffic and the ability to punch the living shit out of stuff. But that combo has arrived. Downtown. Today. Yes, at 4pm this afternoon, around 700 boxers, here to punchasize your face for the the AIBA World Boxing Championship, will walk from the Palmer House Hilton to the Chicago Theater in a 4-block parade. more ›

Memorial Day Weekend is under way, so pull out the grill, set up the yard games, and put on your leather. For 29 years now this Chicago weekend has been synonymous with International Mr. Leather—a leather beauty pageant, leather and fetish conference, adult superstore, and cocktail party rolled up into one giant event that attracted some 15,000 leather daddies, leather boys, leather mamas, and leather girls last year. (Folks, that’s an entire town of fetish... more ›

For those of you who, like Chicagoist, are fans of anything that plugs into the wall (Lamps! Woo!), here are a few Chicago-related technology stories we saw this morning. McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner told attendees of a technology consumer forum at the Palmer House Hilton that the company is trying to make its restaurants more interactive. We thought walking up the counter prior to ordering, receiving and consuming food was pretty interactive already. In fact,... more ›

If you notice a bunch of gays and lesbians walking down Michigan Ave. this weekend with reporter notebook and pen in hand, they're here for the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association's 15th annual convention. Say hi. Okay, so they probably won't be walking down Michigan Ave. with reporter notebooks. They're likely at the Palmer House Hilton listening to such gay journalist luminaries like Chad Allen (yes, that Chad Allen) speak on topics like freelancing,... more ›

The Palmer House Hilton, the grande dame of a hotel that is one of Chicago's most established and well-loved institutions, ain't gonna be the Palmer House Hilton for much longer. New York-based Thor Equities (clearly the most awesome name of a company ever) has reportedly paid $230 million for the historic, circa-1927 property, and is promising another $100 million in renovations and upgrades to bring it back to its glimmery, shimmery heyday. more ›

Hilton is putting the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago's oldest and second largest hotel, up for sale. Hilton purchased the hotel in 1945 for about $20 milllion and expects to sell it for about $250 million. As a condition of the sale, Hilton wants to retain management of the hotel. They're just looking to free up some dollars to finace a stock buyback or new investments. The price, which comes out to about $182,000/room, has surprised many hotel industry observers. Especially since the local hotel market has barely kept pace with 2003 results - occupancy rates are slightly higher, but room rates are slipping. more ›