watching this company die is like a slow motion movie.

Well, I know for a fact that TopShop-Topman had a really rough start. I believe they over-hired and that was partly to blame? They also opened in 2011—things were better than they had been but the economy (especially in Chicago) still wasn't great (which isn't to say that it's great now but it isa lot better). I heard, too, that AllSaints was struggling.

There's no way Uniqlo hadn't gotten wind of all of this. Anyway, their strategy seems to be to flood what they consider to be key markets rather than open up a flagship here and there. They botched it the first time, I believe; didn't their original New Jersey stores close? Whatever. San Francisco is flush with young rich people. No way that isn't alluring to global retailers. And I think the phrase or mentions of 'the Coasts' or 'coastal' fashion downplays the extent to which cities on the East Coast, anyway (Boston, Philadelphia, DC, etc.) benefit simply by proximity to New York and not because of a 'native'/homegrown scene that's more stylish than other cities. It's like that episode of American Dad in which Robert pretends to be a college professor and the guy voiced by Elijah Wood becomes enamored of him and invites him to dinner and Hayley too because she was standing next to him:

"Hayley, just so we're clear, you're only coming because you got caught in the gravity of my invite. I was so invited that he invited everything around it."

Roger is New York and Hayley is Boston/Philadelphia/DC.

Was that Sears store ever any good? It's been like a disaster zone since I moved here. Disaster zone isn't that much different from any other Sears in the world, but being a major State Street frontage and the downtown location of a city whose most famous building was named for, it seems like they must have at least at one point put in an effort.

Besides memories of the portrait studio as a child, when I think of Sears I think of appliances and Crafstman tools. I believe the State Street store had neither.

Maybe. I do know my favorite mens store (that I can afford to shp at regulary) is Charles Tyrwhitt (Engish) and the are opening a store just opposite Brooks Brothers on LaSalle Street at the end of this month. This will be their third US market after NYC and DC. I am pretty stoked about that personally.

^"Sears on State" had both tools and appliances. They did some clever ads when they opened. I remember one showing someone mowing the 12 square foot parkway in front of a bungalow, with a Craftsman riding mower, of course.

It's worth noting that the city bribed them to the tune of $18 million to open a State Street store.

It's a shame that Sears Roebuck is again leaving State Street. We're talking about a company that helped build Chicago's economy, revolutionizing retail and giving us the world's tallest building. Sears was the Amazon of its day, in many ways, with the tremendous profits and job creation to match. It's also the company that screwed the city over by decamping to Hoffman Estates and then screwed themselves over with 25 years of bad business decisions. I hope they can pull out of their death spiral but I don't see how.

Nomarandlee - also stoked for Tyrwhitt on LaSalle. Chicago needs some great shirts.

Fact it, Chicago is still midwestern and people here aren't as globally aware as people in NYC and SF. It's a little unfortunate since Uniqlo's clothing would be perfect for Chicago's weather.

Not a fact.

Edit: Chicago is part of the Midwest and always will be, and people here come from all over the world and from all different cultural backgrounds. What does that have to do with clothing retailers?

I think that, although what you said is true, some general mindsets stick - like that people from the midwest are more frumpy, fashion wise. The thing is, other than Minneapolis and Chicago, there unfourtanately aren't too many places in the heartland that will prove this wrong. It's not that I think it's a bad thing, I love midwestern cities and towns, but they certainly don't receive a "Chicago effect" in the way that affluent urbanized areas on the East and West coast benefit from their largest city. Sometimes these stereotypes just take time to wane.. and for what it's worth I don't think the presence or lack of a Uniqlo is going to make or break the continued growth of Chicago's retail scene.

I bought some shorts at Uniqlo when I was in Beijing, they were good shorts but it's nothing I'm gonna wet my pants over.

Chicago isn't a fashion town. Never has been. Never will be. And as far as being frumpy, Chicago and Minneapolis are the two coldest big cities in the nation, so no shit we don't dress like they do in NYC or whatever other city you wanna compare us to.

Well then what exactly is a fashion town? Is Chicago not allowed to become a fashionable city because of its industrial past? Maybe Chicagoans don't take the scene as seriously as people in NYC, but it certainly does and will continue to have a large number of fashion-conscious individuals. It may be overlooked and/or you may not like it, but you can't deny that it's there. And frankly I could care less if the "scene" here mirrors that of New York...I'd much rather see local retailers make it by selling their own version of high style. Fashion is nice and retailers are good for the city but I don't love the excessively pretentious part of it.

What is a fashion town? Uh, the three US cities that have a large population of trend-obsessed/affluence-obsessed snobs. LA, San Fran, and NYC...

Chicago is a black jacket, jeans, and hoodie town. Period. Ride the L during rush-hour in January, and tell me this is a fashion town. You won't see couture scarfs, fashion boots, and designer coats like you will on the NYC subway; you will see, however, sensible people wearing practice clothes. The number of people that actually shop at those fucking Gold Coast stores like Barney's and Hermes and shit has got to be less than 1% of the city's population...

I've been to San Fransico and NYC many times; they have far more high end clothing shops, and you'll see large amounts of people looking like they're on a fucking fashion runway in Milan. High end fashion in Chicago is Nordstrom or Banana Republic. The only NYC-style fashion you'll see here is amongst the hipsters in Bucktown or the well-dressed dudes up on N Halsted... or something like that. But good luck finding a Ben Sherman sweater on someone at a bar in Edison Park or an H+M scarf on someone at a Sox game in April. Just saying.

Chicago is a big city, man. You won't see many people wearing Prada to a Sox game, but you won't see many old navy sweatshirts in Alinea, either.

You can't deny that Chicago has its own style. If you walk state street during a week day, you'll see everything ranging from designer style, to innovative street style to people dressed casually. Chicago also has a robust indie designer scene that has been growing exponentially these past few years.

Just like anything in a big city, though, not everyone uses it. Not every Chicagoan is a Sox fan, and not every Chicagoan likes to shop for every different style.

From a city to city comparison, in my experience, Chicagoans are better dressed than San Franciscans. If you want evidence, look at a company like suit supply, which opened in Chicago 2 or 3 years before they even looked at SFO. Chicagoans tend to be more casual than New Yorkers, though, generally because a higher percentage in Manhattan comes from outside the city, so they are dressed for work. In Chicago, we tend to go home after work, toss on jeans and then head out for the night.

Chicago is getting on the retail radar, mostly due to the high wage service jobs downtown. You may not see people at the Ford plant rocking H&M scarves, but you'll definitely see some in Logan Square, Pilsen, Bridgeport, Wicker Park, and up the north coast. That market, along with the burbs and the tourists, are what is growing the high end retail downtown. It's the same market driver that is driving high-end apartment construction. Someone dropping $4000 a month on a two bedroom apt is likely the same person able to drop a grand at a store on a regular basis. That's not a bad thing, just a fact of city living.

At the same time I am fairly certain that Alinea has no official dress code, fat chance finding a restaurant of that caliber in any other city on earth where they won't toss you out on your ass for wearing a nice pair of jeans to dinner. Seriously though, Chicago is not an elitist city and I love that about this place. Attempts to enforce a "pecking order" here are met with disdainful glares at a minimum and threats of (if not actual) violence for particularly snobby assholes.

The fact that you have one of the best restaurants on earth located here and they don't even enforce a dress code is pretty telling. Hell, the thought of a screaming baby showing up hadn't even crossed their minds until recently. Will you see many people wearing crappy clothes at Alinea? No. But it is not because there is some fashion caste system in place as there is in NYC or Paris, it is because, despite our lack of formal rules, most Chicagoans have a basic sense of decency. If we are going to a fancy restaurant the same old "sunday best" mentality that has been around since this was the frontier kicks in and people feel that dressing up in their nicer outfits is the correct behavior.

This is true, but it is largely reflective of the above. No one ever said Chicagoans don't like to dress decently, we just don't give a shit about the superficial "high fashion" that is coveted elsewhere. I would argue that Chicago's style factors in practicality and affordability to a much greater degree than the prevailing styles of many other cities.



And forgive me a tangent here, but the dress code comments I made above reminded me of another thing I love about Chicago: there is also no pecking order to gain access to any parts of this city. Unlike most other cities of its size, there are next to no establishments in this city that limit who can access them to some kind of elitist "list". If you are in Chicago and you make reservations early enough or get lucky on a lotto, ANYONE can gain access to our more revered cultural and social institutions. Obviously things can get pricey, but what do you expect for food made with liquid nitrogen? And building on that, I also love the fact that Chicago is mainly a "bar town" not a "club city". The "club" scene here is very limited and largely superseded by the various neighborhood bars which are the main centers of our social lives. Again, we tend to prefer the more casual alternative of the bar over the pretentious club atmosphere.

That's not a fact, that's just a stupid comment

I couldn't agree more.

Chicago is a pragmatic, realistic place. The city doesn't pride it self on the superficial in the same way that NY and LA do (or London or Italy for that matter). Chicago is far more in line with Germany or parts of Spain with its "work hard then relax with friends and family" attitude and that is a very good thing.

In other news:
Two new restaurants lined up for B37
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...s-for-block-37

^ I haven't observed ANYTHING that you are talking about here in regards to SF. What's with this new aura around SF that so many people are carrying in their minds? It's not a fashion town, it never has been. It never will be. It's a tech town.

Regarding NYC, yes I have observed a subset of people dressing in a way you wouldn't see in Chicago. But plenty of people in Chicago look well put together, although Chicago's style is a tad more conservative in general.

But most people in all 3 cities look about the same--casual.