Police have reopened an Orland Park Victoria's Secret PINK store after a mad rush of Black Friday shoppers this morning forced it to shut down. more ›

On Saturday, May 14, the weekly Farmers Market on Division Street between State and Clark streets opened for the season. It was one of several neighborhood markets around Chicago to open this past Saturday. We paid a visit, slinging both camera and canvas sack, to see what had been helped along by the short-lived heatwave we experienced last week. That it's still early in the Midwest growing season was evident in the relatively sparse offerings; nevertheless, some good-looking greens, fulsome fungi and an array of young potted plants all signaled a promising summer of cellulose ahead. more ›

A major salvo was fired yesterday in the battle to provide access to healthy and affordable food to Chicago's most underserved neighborhoods. Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel, several alderman, civic groups, and local citizens were on hand to celebrate the grand opening of five Save-a-Lot grocery stores on the city's south side. It made for a morning of stirring speeches about the fight against blight, development in poorer neighborhoods, and, of course, the importance of having good access to good food. more ›

Looking for just the thing to make you subscribe to a car-sharing service? Groupon's "Deal of the Day," which is on and runs through midnight, is a one-year Zipcar membership and $30 of driving credit, all for $30. If we weren't loyal I-GO subscribers, we'd seriously consider this. more ›

The Chicago French Market kicked off its one year anniversary celebration in a Chicagoan French style; with a cream puff creation of the Arc de Triomphe on a rainbow boulevard of macarons. The Chicago French Market is sharing the celebration all weekend long with two days filled with giveaways, specials and a visit from Pere Noel himself. more ›

If you're like us, you've been doing a lot of shopping online. It could be a music or movie download, it could be a whole new server system or home theater setup. Maybe you've been doing some telephone shopping, catalog shopping, or even crossing state lines to find the best deal. more ›

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Despite aisles and aisles of lights, ornaments, candy, artificial trees, wrapping paper, brownie gift sets, and plastic hot cocoa mugs in all their stores, according to the American Family Association, Walgreens is guilty of marginalizing Christmas. That is, Walgreens "refers to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others." But shame on CVS (who, truth be told, we've always kinda hated, since they strangle people). That drugstore gets slammed altogether. "Company may use 'Christmas' sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as a company, does not recognize it," concludes the AFA. more ›

There are those Chicagoistos among us who didn't want me to me write this post. They didn't want me to let the cat out of the bag, instead wanting to grab all the best deals for themselves. "Isn't our 2010 Gift Guide good enough?" they carped. But, in the spirit of the season, I'm ignoring those objections. more ›

How in demand was Goose Island's Rare Bourbon County Stout? Enough so that over 260 people lined up at Binny's Lincoln Park to be among the first to buy BCS rare when the doors opened at 9 a.m. By 11 a.m., Binny's had sold out of their entire allotment: 120 cases. At $42.99 a bottle, that's a lot of green. more ›

It's called "Black Friday" because it's the one day of the year where retailers know they're going to turn a profit ("black ink" = profits?). But the traditionally largest shopping day of the year will snarl traffic and test nerves like none other. more ›

Despite $25 million (including $8 million in tax increment financing) and the enthusiastic support of Mayor Daley, the Chicago French Market at the Ogilvie Transportation Center is underperforming, according to Crain's. more ›

It's sort of hard to believe but Christmas shopping ads have already made their way into our living rooms; thanks for that Macy's! As the holiday season looms large over us here at the Chicagoist offices we have all made a pact this year not to leave all of our shopping until that midnight super-sale on Christmas Eve night. One way we've decided to combat our penchant for procrastination is to make the rounds at all of the independent, DIY, handmade artist shows that grace the streets of Chicago throughout the autumn. more ›

The Metra French Market announced the addition of four more vendors. Green City Market shoppers are already familiar with Zullo's. Their new shop will sell traditional pizzas, assorted pastas, panini, pastries, sandwiches, soups and other Italian specialties that change daily. Another farmers market staple, Olives4You, will specialize in marinated and stuffed olives, tapenades, assorted pita breads, vinegars, olive oils and eventually homemade hummus and fresh, ready-to-eat specialties. more ›

As regular browsers of sites like Apartment Therapy and Design*Sponge, we're big fans of the modern meets vintage aesthetic when it comes to interior design and decor. There's plenty of room to add your own personal touches and sites like Etsy and Supermarket are great sources for affordable accents. But when it comes to the big ticket items, say that perfect mid-century modern sideboard or industrial stool, online shipping becomes cost prohibitive and those of us who live car-less are left with a hope and a prayer on Craigslist, or relegated to shopping locally. Local shops like Scout and Post 27 and salvage outposts like Salvage One have plenty of amazing offerings, but are generally accompanied by price tags far outside our budgets. more ›

Soup and Bread mastermind Martha Bayne sent out an e-mail blast today announcing the completion of the Soup and Bread Cookbook in time for the holidays. Bayne and book designer Sheila Sachs will be throwing a book release party next Wednesday at the Hideout from 5-8 p.m. more ›

If you prefer to shop local during the holiday season, then save the date for Saturday, December 5 and the return of the annual Do Division blowout. Merchants, restaurants and bars located on Division St. between Milwaukee and Leavitt will offer deep discounts, original gift ideas, freebies and plenty of opportunities to gather and relax in like company. 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 ›

Most of us have little time, or desire, to scrutinize food labels. Not to mention doing so can perplex even the most astute shopper. But the ability to quickly interpret a food label, and weed out key information, is requisite to healthy eating. So leave your calculator at home, enter your grocery store armed with patience and a satisfied belly, and consider these key points to efficient label reading. more ›

LUPEC, the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails, is having the prohibition-era equivalent of a pub crawl. The Chicago chapter is led by Sonja Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery, and with a slogan like "Dismantling the Patriarchy, One Cocktail at a Time," what's not to love? On November 12, LUPEC is hosting "Women Helping Women," an evening of shopping, drinking and charity. Participants (ladies or gentlemen) will take a tour through the fashionable shopping of the West Loop, visiting boutiques like Bess and Loie, 2 Sisters and Smitten. At each of the twelve stops, enjoy shopping and try one classic cocktail. more ›

Lord knows there was plenty of music to consume over the weekend, but none of it was really in vinyl or shiny digital plastic form. Well, if you can hold out till Saturday you won't be disappointed. We're loathe to share this information, seeing as how we want all the goodies to ourselves, but this Saturday ubercool music store Dusty Groove is holding a rare sidewalk sale. The treasure hunting starts at noon on the dot and lasts till 5 p.m., or whenever everything's gone. Items will include "weird Brazilian titles, lots of indie-label releases, unusual Latin, offbeat Now Sound, vintage Vocals, sealed Soundtracks, long-lost 12" Singles, Funky 45s, and lots more great bits." more ›

When a trailer for the upcoming cine-adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are debuted online this spring it caused a minor sensation, with everyone going nuts about its use of an Arcade Fire song and the decidedly non-CGI looking creatures. Although we were frankly disappointed by the Dave Eggers-penned Away We Go we're still genuinely excited; because, luckily, Spike Jonze is no Sam Mendes. In fact we haven't been this anxious to see a book-to-movie project since ... well, Wes Anderson's upcoming Fantastic Mr. Fox. more ›

Ah, the shopping mall: food courts, chain stores, erstwhile home to zombie uprisings and Tiffany concerts (specifically "The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87"). The first enclosed shopping center, Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota (shown above), opened in 1956. Since then they've spread to practically every corner of the globe. In fact the world's largest malls are now in Asia, dwarfing their North American ancestors. Aside from McDonald's perhaps no other American innovation has been so equally reviled and embraced. more ›

Our Saturday visit to Green City Market resulted in a pirate's booty of fresh produce, planters, milk and meats. The highlight of our visit was the purchase of French breakfast radishes and white carrots from Green Acres Farm in North Judson, IN. June is when radishes just begin to make their way to farmers markets and Green Acres's French breakfast radishes have a crispness when you bite into them and taste best raw with a little bit of butter and salt. Wanting to use all of the purchase, we made a pesto from the radish greens. (Incidentally, radishes will be the subject of a future "Ingredient in Focus" post.) The white carrots were a revelation, with a taste to their greens similar to cilantro. We dehydrated some and used them on tacos last night. more ›

We love Reckless; and frankly, we've always preferred the Lakeview store to the one in Wicker Park. When we heard they'd be moving, we initially feared that it'd be to a smaller space. Luckily, that's not the case. The new digs at 3126 N. Broadway, about a block south of the old location, are fairly spacious. In fact, there's even more browsing room thanks to wider aisles. Unlike the old store, you won't have to elbow your way past people staring at the box sets and New Arrivals. Another bonus: the new store is right across the street from Intelligentsia. more ›

We went to the opening of the Randolph Street Market this weekend to check out the hodgepodge of vendors, ranging from the mundane to the bizarre. You can find antiques, jewelry, vinyl, local indie designer clothing, and a million things you never knew existed. We saw antique suitcases and birdcages, lava lamps, action figures and pottery recovered from a shipwreck. And a lot of sunburns; don't forget the sunscreen, folks! more ›

Let's face it, shopping is one of the first things to be scratched off the priority list in this shit can economy. In fact, many of us are looking for ways to keep more cash in our ever-fraying pockets. Lately we've used a more discriminating eye when throwing clothes in the donation pile and weeded out a few items to take to thrift stores in an attempt to make an extra buck. Our success at selling our old duds was questionable, but we obtained a wealth of knowledge on what brings in the bucks and what doesn’t that we’ll benevolently share below. Here's our story: more ›

Early indications are that the economy will continue to put a crimp in retail sales including the coveted after-Christmas sales.

Though many retailers opened before dawn and advertised bargains aggressively, malls appeared relatively quiet Friday. The number of people visiting shopping centers declined an estimated 19 percent from the day after Christmas last year, according to NPD Group Inc., a Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm, based on visits to 26 malls nationwide.... more ›

We recently brought you a quick write-up of holiday shopping events that would help you get your gift-buying done in a hurry, but we've found one more happening this weekend that's worth a look. Neighborhood Artists in Logan Square (otherwise known as N.A.I.L.S.) is throwing a holiday bazaar this Saturday full of original and unique art pieces at reasonable prices, making them perfect gifts to purchase in this shoddy economy. Dozens of local artists (disclaimer: including our very own Lauri Apple!) will be on site to showcase a wide variety of pieces including paintings, jewelry, stained glass, photos and more. Christmas shop, get free munchies, support the local art scene. Can't go wrong. more ›

Yeargh, this stuff sells out fast. Local outfit Orange Beautiful's limited edition "Motivate Prints" are back. The set of four includes "get your sh*t together," "get on with it already," "quit your bellyaching" and "do something about it." more ›

This adorable Illinois necklace is cheaper than a movie. Cute!
more ›