Shopping

Forget Rodeo Drive or Fifth Avenue -- Chicago is the country's original shopping center. As the United States expanded westward, catalogs from Chicago-based Sears and Montgomery Ward made clothes, books, and housewares accessible to even the most remote frontier towns. Department store magnate Marshall Field operated his namesake department store here, which opened in 1852, under the motto "Give the lady what she wants." Field pioneered many customer-service policies that are now standard, such as hassle-free returns.

Today Montgomery Ward is no more (and Marshall Field's has been taken over by Macy's), but downtown Chicago still draws hordes of shoppers (as anyone who's tried to walk quickly down Michigan Ave. on a busy summer Saturday can attest to). From the fine furniture showrooms at the imposing Merchandise Mart to the who's who of designer boutiques lining Oak Street and Michigan Avenue, the quality of stores in Chicago is top-notch. Because so many of the best are concentrated in one easy-to-walk area, the convenience of shopping in Chicago is unmatched.

This chapter concentrates on the Magnificent Mile, State Street, and several trendy neighborhoods, where you'll find one-of-a-kind shops and boutiques that make shopping here such an adventure.

Shopping Hours

As a general rule, store hours are 10am to 6 or 7pm Monday through Saturday, and noon to 6pm Sunday. Neighborhood stores tend to keep later hours, as do some of the stores along Michigan Avenue, which cater to after-work shoppers as well as tourists. Almost all stores have extended hours during the holiday season. Nearly all the stores in the Loop are open for daytime shopping only, generally from 9 or 10am to no later than 6pm Monday through Saturday. (The few remaining big downtown department stores have some selected evening hours.) Many Loop stores not on State Street are closed Saturday; on Sunday the Loop -- except for a few restaurants, theaters, and cultural attractions -- shuts down.

Sales Tax

You might do a double take after checking the total on your purchase: At 9%, the state and local sales tax on nonfood items is one of the steepest in the country.

Shopping A to Z

Chicago has shops selling just about anything you could want or need, be it functional or ornamental, whimsical or exotic. Although the following list only scratches the surface, it gives you an idea of the range of merchandise available. You'll find more shops in many of these categories, such as apparel and gifts, covered in the earlier sections of this chapter.

Antiques -- The greatest concentration of antiques businesses, from packed-to-the-rafters malls to idiosyncratic individual shops, can be found on Belmont Avenue west of Southport Avenue, or stretching north and south of Belmont Avenue along intersecting Lincoln Avenue. Here are a few others:

Art Galleries -- Most of the city's major art galleries are concentrated in two neighborhoods. The city's original gallery district is in River North, within easy walking distance of most downtown hotels. More recently, galleries have been opening in the converted loft buildings of the West Loop, which is best reached by taxi.

Clothing Boutiques -- In the not-so-distant past, local fashion addicts fled to the coasts to shop for cutting-edge designer duds. Those days are over. While over-the-top outrageousness doesn't sell here -- this is the practical Midwest, after all -- stylish Chicagoans now turn to local independent boutiques when they want to stay on top of the latest trends (without looking like fashion victims). Here are some of the best.