Friday, March 27, 2009

Good News, Bad News Roundup

Here's a roundup of the good and not-so-good news affecting Chicago retail, development, and more.


Good newsCrain's reports that First Chicago Bancorp is going to move to Chicago.
Bad news: Chicago Community Bank has closed its location on Michigan Avenue and Lake Street.

Good newsCrain's reports that habidasher Bigsby & Kruthers will open a store at 108 North State .
Bad news: There are five vacant storefronts on just the north side of the premier shopping block of Oak Street. Only one has "coming soon" sign for a replacement.
Bad newsCrain's reports that Amira Mediterranean Cuising in the NBC Tower has closed.
Bad news: That's Our Bag, the luggage store that's been having an "everything must go" sale on the corner of Lake and Wabash for years and years looks like it's really going out of business this time, since there are now "Store Closing" and "Fixtures For Sale" signs in the windows.
Good news: The Hotel Felix is open and looks nice.
Bad news: S.A. Peck Jewelers is closing its Michigan Avenue store in the London Guarantee and Accident Building .
Bad newsCrain's reports that Z Gallerie in Lincoln Park has closed.
Bad news: The Mark Shale clothing chain has filed for bankruptcy and will close many of its stores.
Good newsCrain's reports that the Mark Shale location at 900 North Michigan will remain open until a buyer can be found.


Bad news: We received a text message stating that MNG By Mango has closed its Water Tower Place location.
Bad news: We received another text message that a store near Sephora in Water Tower Place has also been papered over.
Bad news: Nuts on Clark has closed its Water Tower Place location.

Good news: Holy Name Cathedral has raised $95,000 to repair its roof after February's fire.
Bad news: Holy Name Cathedral needs probably close to eight million dollars to repair its roof after February's fire.
Good news: Holy Name has received roof repair donations from churches in other states.
Bad news: Holy Name has received roof repair donations from only two churches in its own diocese (We're looking at you, Old Saint Pat's).

Good news: The Sun-Times reports that Roosevelt University is planning a new 32-story tower on South Wabash.
Good news: WBBM-TV reports that new life may be breathed into the Chicago Spire.

Bad news: The Cubs are thinking about hosting 50 night games this season.
Good news: The Cubs are thinking about hosting 50 night games this season.

Good news: We're going to move a lot of this same information on our Twitter feed .
Bad news: We're going to move a lot of this same information on our Twitter feed .

4 comments:

  1. What are the five empty stores on Oak? I'm guessing that includes the Esquire Theater.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The vacancies on the north side of Oak Street are (from west to east)

    Esquire Theater (58)
    Citibank (68)
    G'bani (72)
    Atlas Galleries (102)
    Marilyn Miglin (112)

    Only Miglin has a coming soon. Baccarat on 1 and 2, Miglin on 3.

    I feel bad for Sarah's Pasteries and Ming which have two empty storefronts on either side of them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is Piazza Sempione now open? I remember Crain's say it would replace Sugar Magnolia.

    http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=31879

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm told it's not open yet, but work is proceeding, though slowly.

    ReplyDelete

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