Ah, downtown Chicago! The city's Crown Jewel and out-going Mayor Richard M. Daley's once prized possession. But that jewel's sparkle seems to be fading --- and fading fast.
As of Saturday, January 29, 2011, you can add Loehmann's at 151 North State Street to the laundry list of stores that have gone out of business, on what used to be one of Chicago's premier shopping areas - second only to the Magnificent Mile.
According to CBS Chicago, Loehmann's filed for bankruptcy and the 27,000-square-foot building the retailer once called home, may be empty for years.
The economy may be one reason retailers downtown and on Michigan Avenue are having a hard time turning a profit. But I suspect the exorbitant sales tax, the ridiculous cost of parking, and the thousands of unreported crimes, may have turned off a few potential customers as well.
But what do I know? I'm just a blogger! And I'll keep blogging about all the empty downtown stores, until someone gets it right.
The 1% "extra" tax on food purchased, in the area bounded by North, 35th, Lake Shore and Halsted doesn't help! Instead of paying 9.75% tax on a meal, one pays pays 10.75%. :(
ReplyDeleteWell, you have to realize that Mayor Daley has sold off all the City's assets, so he has no other choice but to raise sales tax to generate revenue!
ReplyDeleteThe 1% "restaurant/fast food" sin tax was enacted in the 1990s. The Chicago Assets' Sales were in the late 2000s. These taxes also scare away revenue too.
ReplyDeleteI just saw this story and just had to comment even though this is over a year old. This really prove how idiotic this blog really is. The author of this blog is one stupid piece of shit who has no fucking clue what he's talking about. Loehmaan's was a chain retail store and not based in Chicago. The company went bankrupt and closed its doors all over the country, not just in Chicago, lol. So, how does that become a negative reflection on Downtown Chicago like you try to make it seem? It's also funny how you exaggerated the health of downtown Chicago when it fared better than most downtowns in the country during the recession. Btw, the Loehmann's spot was leased in a matter of months after it went empty, not "years," lol.
ReplyDeleteThere have also been several dozen other retail openings downtown since the recession hit. Now it's 2012 and Downtown Chicago is outperforming almost every other downton in the country despite having SOME of the highest taxes, NOT the highest, in the country. Btw dumb ass, Michigan Ave and State Street are great urban retail corridors and don't need parking to do great business. If parking is what you want then maybe your fat, lazy ass should move to Scumburg or any of the other bland, boring, disgusting, car dependent cesspool burbs where you can buy yourself a mini van and drive everywhere to your fat little heart's content.
Also, have you seen all the new stores that have opened downtown? Did you notice All the luxury retailers that are moving to Michigan Ave and Oak street? Did you noticed Burberry kocked down their 2 storey flagship store and are building one that's more than twice as big? I bet you didn't notice any of that because you're nothing but a little coward ass cunt who hides in his mother's basement, using outside sources, to report on crime that happens in the upscale hoods, but you yourself don't really have a clue as to what's really going on because you're too afraid to come outside.
Even Forbes named downtown Chicago the best downtown in the country and you know that was hard for them to admit. Yeah, we have our problems down here but over exaggerating things is just the same as ignoring things. The retail scene in downtown Chicago is strong. Despite the problems we have with these little animals who comes down here to cause trouble, people continue to flock to downtown because people with common sense know that the area is generally safe. That's why people and businesses are constantly moving down here. They also know downtown has a lot to offer and that there's no other downtown in the Midwest that can even come close to offering what downtown Chicago offers. The coasts and overseas are the only competetion but they're far away and more expensive.
Downtown Chicago will continue to thrive and get bigger and stronger no matter how much the bitter, envious losers pray for it to fail. Our problems won't be solved overnight but they will be solved and for that to happen, us who know how great this place is have to continue to fight for it and not hide from the problems and report on them from a basement, like the coward author of this pice of shit blog does.