The Pump Room, a Chicago icon and celebrity hot spot since 1938, is being sold off, piece by piece. The famous restaurant, founded by Ernest Byfield, hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra, Natalie Wood, Paul Newman, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It has been in financial trouble for quite a while - a result of declining glitz and food quality. The Ambassador East, the restaurant's hotel parent, was purchased in 2010, and there was for some time talk of reviving the Pump Room to its former glory. But yesterday, the Tribune announced that the entire restaurant and hotel was being broken up and sold - from the tissue holders to the barstools. The only bright side? You can go buy a piece for yourself. more ›

Green City Market switches locations from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to outside today. They've also opened up ticket sales for their annual Chefs BBQ on July 15. The event, now in its tenth year, brings together most of the best chefs around and has become one of the high watermark culinary events in the city. more ›

The business partnership between Shawn McClain, Peter Drohomyrecky and Sue Kim-Drohomyrecky has been slowly dissolving over the past year. McClain decided to retain the vegetarian-focused Green Zebra while also focusing on Sage, his restaurant in Las Vegas' Aria hotel; while the Drohomyreckys now own Custom House Tavern outright. more ›

Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises has ended negotiations with Iconix Brand Management, owner of London Fog, Starter and Joe Boxer. The deal, estimated to be worth about $300 million, stalled over the role founder Hugh Hefner would play. Hef, who owns 70 percent of the company's stock, is the magazine's editor-in-chief and chief creative officer of the company, but he is no longer involved in day-to-day operations. The LA Times reports: more ›

Back in the day, it was customary to buy the newspaper right around Thanksgiving and check out all the ads and circulars to see which store had the best Black Friday deal. But now things are a bit easier, thanks to bargain-hunting website gotadeal.com, a site that specializes in bringing consumers the newest and cheapest deals from major chain stores such as Target, Best Buy, and Walmart, among others. more ›

The sale of the Sun-Times Media Group, parent to the Chicago Sun-Times and dozens of smaller papers, to a group headed by James Tyree is now complete. The $26.5 million deal is made up by $5 million paid by the group plus the assumption of the STMG's $21.5 million in liabilities. The new partnership will be called Sun-Times Media Holdings LLC. The Sun-Times reports the other members of the group are businessman Kevin Flynn; real estate executives Andrew Agostini, Ed Heil and Ed Ross; insurance executive William Parrillo; his brother, attorney Robert Parrillo; Chicago Blackhawks owner and property and liquor magnate W. Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz; and Mesirow executives Michael Mackey, Richard Price and Bruce Young. Said Tyree of the sale: more ›

Still deciding if you should go as the bubble boy for Halloween this year? Why not try something different, like a Joffrey Ballet dancer, for instance. This fall, for the first time in their 53-year history, Joffrey Ballet is opening its costume vault to the public for a sale starting at 8 a.m. on Oct. 28. More than 200 men's and women's costumes will be available for purchase, with prices starting at $25. more ›

It seems that the Sun-Times sale to James Tyree isn't quite a done deal yet. While the group's largest union, the Chicago Newspaper Guild, agreed to terms along with the expectation that two others would follow suit, there's one union that hasn't even scheduled a vote on the matter. The six member Chicago Typographical Union No. 16 is in no rush to approve anything. Said union president Steve Berman, "I can't sign a document that gives the company the ability to discharge my people without any assurances...we're not running to vote on this one." The Tribune has more on the matter. more ›

In a move that was expected, the Chicago Cubs have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing means the tam's new owners - the Ricketts family - will be protected from the Tribune Company's creditors stemming from the company's own bankruptcy filing in December 2008 (the Cubs were not included in that filing). Last week, Major League Baseball owners approved the sale of the team to the Ricketts. more ›

Crain's is reporting that Sun-Times Media Group and the Newspapers Guild have come to an agreement that can facilitate the sale of the Bright One and its holdings to Mesirow Financial CEO James Tyree. [Crain's] more ›

Lovely (a bake shop) is a bright space of country charm on a sketchy stretch of Milwaukee that sells great espresso drinks, Intelligensia coffee, cookies, muffins, mini-pies cupcakes and a ton of other pastries. We're kind of obsessed. Which is why their new "somethings on sale every day" sign made us happy. Monday: Buy any coffee, espresso drink, or tea and get 50% muffins. Tuesday: Buy any coffee, espresso drink or tea and get 50% cupcakes. Wednesday: Buy any coffee, espresso drink, or tea and get 50% off mini-pies. Thursday: Buy any coffee, espresso drink or tea and get 50% off cookies. (Limit a dozen per customer for each day.) Friday: Buy any sandwich (comes with a side) and get a free mini-cupcake or cookie. more ›

Finally. After a long, arduous process, the Chicago Cubs (and Wrigley Field) have a new owner: the Ricketts Family. The Tribune reports this morning that the Tribune Company and the Ricketts finalized the deal over the weekend. Here's hoping the deal wasn't finalized on Saturday in conjunction with the worst performance we've seen out of the Cubs this summer. Anyway. The Trib reports: "The source said the sales price is "close" to the $900 million bid the Ricketts offered earlier this year that won an auction for the baseball team, stadium and a 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago, a regional cable television sports network." The agreement now goes to Major League Baseball for approval. more ›

And you thought the Cubs' problems this season were confined to a shaky bullpen and quiet bats. It seems the Tribune Company isn't dealing with just the Ricketts family, the original high bidder, anymore. According to Crain's, a "period of exclusivity" has elapsed, opening the door for the Tribune Company to begin negotiating with other bidders, specifically those who the Ricketts had previously outbid. The group the Tribune Co. is now talking to includes investors Marc Utay and Leo Hindery, who had previously bid on the team. more ›

At least three bidders met the Thanksgiving deadline to submit their proposals for buying the Chicago Cubs. Chicago real estate investor Hersch Klaff, the Ricketts family, founder of online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., and a group led by Marc Utay, a New York private equity investor all turned in proposals over the holiday weekend. No word on the two other potential bidders, Houston businessman Jim Crane and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. The package includes the Cubs, Wrigley Field, and Tribune's 25-percent stake in Comcast SportsNet more ›

], but that doesn’t mean we’re not into stretching a buck. We found a few shopping events going on this weekend that are a bargain-hunter's paradise. more ›